Back To Haven
by LostCurrency
Summary: Duke was no where near thrilled when he found out the troubles were back. But everything became a little bit more bearable when Nathan's little sister came back too. Duke/OC
1. Ain't No Sunshine

Season 1, Episode 8 onward.

I sat in my brother's chair at the police station with a big smirk on my face. Chief wanted me to come back and live here while the trouble were happening, see if I could help out any. And Nathan had no clue I was home. Nathan was my big brother, older than me by two years. We never got along very well.

I had my feet up on his desk, and right when I was comfortable a woman walked it.

"How do you start looking for the dark- I'm sorry who are you?" A woman with blonde hair and blue eyes asked as she walked into the room and spotted me. I moved me feet to get a better view, to see Nathan behind her.

"Vi?" He asked with a confused smile on his face. I smiled back, but wasn't ready to get up yet.

"Dad's still working you to the bone I see. And who's your partner?" I asked as my converse covered feet hit the floor after Nathan came up to his desk and pushed them off.

"Right. Audrey Parker, this is my sister Violet. Violet, this is Agent Audrey Parker." Nathan said, and I smiled at the woman who was still at the doorway. She smiled hesitantly.

"You never told me you had a sister." She said as she made her way to the other desk in the room.

"That's rude Nathan." I teased.

"Yeah. I like to pretend I don't have one." He said in his off hand comedic way. I rolled my eyes. "Why are you here Vi?"

"Dad wanted me back. He said you and your new partner," I motioned to Audrey, "are doing great with the troubles, but he thought I could help too. Not sure how I can help though. But I thought why not. I haven't been back in ages." I got out of the chair to let Nathan sit down. I know he doesn't really like it when people touch his stuff, and regardless of being his sister those rules still applied.

"Oh, so you know about the troubles?" Audrey asked as I sat down in the seat in front of Nathan's desk. I looked at her with a incredulous look on my face.

"My big brother can't feel a thing and you are surprised I know about the troubles?" I asked rhetorically. She grimaced and nodded.

"Good point."

"Look, Vi. We don't really need your help at this point of time, so if you want to just get familiar with Haven again you should just enjoy the day." Nathan said, and I nodded. I understood when I wasn't wanted around. I stood up and briefly waved at Nathan before leaving the office.

"But if you see a dark man, give us a call." Audrey shouted as I left the office. I didn't reply because in the back of my mind all I could assume was that Audrey was a racist.

I walked through downtown. I had missed Haven. Not the crazy troubles, but just the scenery, the people. Most importantly I missed my old best friend.

Duke Crocker had been my best friend ever since the day I had met him. My brother resented this, but that didn't change anything. And if it wasn't for the fact that the last time I had seen Duke, he had told me he never wanted to see my face ever again, he would've been the first person I would've visited. Actually, if he never had said that, I probably would've come back sooner.

I pulled my plaid shirt closer to me as the wind blew. My brother and I were very unique. He couldn't feel a thing and I could feel it all. When it was cold I was freezing and when it was hot I was burning up. We were the opposite sides of the spectrum. I was only two years younger than him, but he liked to pretend we were decades apart. I suppose that's what happens when you can't feel anything for most of your life- it ages you.

I tried to keep myself away from the pier. Away from where Duke's boat most likely was, but what can I say. My feet had a mind of their own. I carefully placed my feet on the beginning of the pier, and continued on forward. I lost track of where I was on the pier, I was so busy smelling the fresh Maine air. The wind blew again, this time from behind, and all my black hair flew into my face. I stopped in my tracks as I swotted it out of my way, some hair flying into my mouth. I spat for a moment and when the wind finally died down I was able to get it all out of my face.

And when I did, I noticed Duke Crocker on the boat I had stopped by. He had noticed me, and we stood completely still for what felt like hours.

"Vi?" He asked as he dropped the crate in his hands. I landed with a large thud, and I have a feeling something inside might have been broken.

"I'm so sorry. I'll just leave now." I muttered, and I turned around and started walking away.

"Vi? No!" Duke yelled, and from the sounds of it he ran off of his boat, and onto the pier after me. Just when I was about to start running he grabbed my right hand, and pulled me to face him.

I looked up at him confused, and before I could even comment on anything, his lips were on mine.

I probably should have mentioned that. We may or may not have dated for a long time. Actually, considering his last words to me where "I never want to see you again." and not, "I'm breaking up with you." I suppose you could say we never stopped dating.

I've never been one for details. I just assumed when you say you never want to see someone again, the latter is implied.

I kissed back, and my hand that wasn't being harassed by duke went up to his neck. Until I realized that I was kissing duke. That's when the kissing on both sides ended.

"I'm confused." I said as I took my hand away from Duke's neck. What just happened? How did I go from 'oh I miss my best friend' to 'oh I'm kissing Duke'.

"Yeah, me too." Duke agreed as he dropped my hand and took a step back.

"We haven't been dating this whole time have we?" I asked, in reference to the years while I wasn't in Haven.

"No way!" Duke said as he started chuckling. He then stopped and stared at me. "Why do you ask?"

"Well I just assumed we had split up, so that would've been very awkward if that wasn't true." I stated, looking down at the pier below me. I knew exactly what he was going to ask next, and I was just hoping he wouldn't.

"Violent Wuornos, were you seeing someone while you were out in the real world?" Duke asked, and I could tell by the smug tone in his voice that he was smirking down on me.

"It's been a while, Duke. Don't even pretend you haven't seen anyone either." I said and I looked up at him smirking. He glared at me for a second before pointing his finger at me. He opened his mouth and closed it a few times, as if he was working on something to say. When he couldn't he started shaking his head and started walking away. I stood where I was, confused. He was just about to get on his boat, when he turned around.

"Are you coming?" He asked, and motioned to his boat. I only smiled and ran up to him. He smiled back.

I'm not sure where that leaves Duke and I, besides on his boat. But I'm just glad it leaves us somewhere in close proximity to each other.

After spending the afternoon with Duke trying to catch up on all the missed years, I made my way back into town. He invited me to join him at the Grey Gull, and ended up making me promise for a rain check. I was here to help Nathan and Audrey after all.

I walked into The Haven Herald quietly. I know I probably shouldn't be going around scaring old men, but I can't help it.

I heard Vince and Dave bickering in the other room. I held my laughter and continued to quietly walk into the room.

"Surprise!" I yelled, throwing out some jazz hands. Vince yelped and dropped his paper and pencil, while Vince was so surprised he whipped around and flashed a camera at me, blinding me. I closed my eyes immediately, throwing my hands to my eyes.

"Violet!" Vince yelled, and I could hear the smile in his voice. I nodded my head, my hands still over my eyes.

"Sorry Violet. We haven't had anyone scare us like that since... Well since you were last here." Dave commented as he carefully walked up to me, and led me to his chair to sit down at. Once I was sat down I rubbed my eyes a few more times before taking my hands off my eyes. I opened my eyes and smiled when I saw Vince and Dave looking at me so concerned.

"I'm fine guys." I said, and held three fingers out in front of my face. "See? Three fingers." I said as I blinked a few more times and dropped my hand.

"Shall I get us some tea? Maybe some food too?" Vince asked, as Dave sat down in a seat adjacent to the desk I was sitting behind.

"I'd love some tea. I just came back from seeing Duke, so I'm full though." I commented, patting my stomach that currently held lemon seared cod with cauliflower.

"Ooh, a former flame has been lit?" Vince asked as he walked into the other room. Dave moved his head in closer as if to hear the details first.

"You know, I'm not quite sure. Little lost on where Duke and I stand. But how are you guys?" I asked as I pulled my legs in closer to my body. I'd be fine once I had some tea, but until then I'd be having a battle with the chilly weather of Haven.

"A lot better now that you're here, Violet. You grew up so beautifully." Dave said, smiling.

"Thanks, Dave. That means a lot to me." I said as I smiled back.

"Ask her how long she's staying!" I heard Vince yell over the whine of a tea kettle. Dave looked over at the door the kitchen was in before turning to me.

"I think she can hear you better than me, Vince!" Dave yelled back, and we both snickered together.

"Well sorry. Sometimes I forget you are a deaf old man." Vince commented back bitterly as he walked into the room before smiling at me and putting a mug of tea in front of me. "It's chai. I always buy some just in case you come back." Vince said smiling at me as I took a sip of it. It tasted just as I remembered. There was always something about how they made chai tea for me.

"That's so sweet of you Vince." I said as I kept the mug in my hands to warm me up. Vince took the seat next to Dave. "I tried to make some when I was living in the real world, but it never tasted the same."

"That's because Vince uses a secret ingredient." Dave said, nodding his head. I leaned in at this, looking from Vince to Dave, waiting to hear the ingredient. "Love." Dave said, and I glared at him for a second before laughing. They joined in.

"So what were you two doing before I so rudely interrupted?" I asked as I took another sip from the chai tea.

"Maybe you can help us with our debate." Vince said.

"Good idea." Dave agreed, before grabbing his camera from the table. "See, I think photography is a better medium than painting. And Vince here thinks the other way around."

"How can I help you guys with this debate? I'm not at artist." I said as I moved the mug around in my hands, letting the warmth soak in.

"How about this. I paint you and Dave takes some photographs, and you decide which you like better." Vince suggested, and I blushed.

"If you insist that's the easiest way to finish this debate." I said as I looked from Vince to Dave, whom both had hopeful smiles on their faces. They both nodded, and Vince put his mug on the table before running around the room, gathering art supplies. Dave grabbed his tripod, and started walking around me, as if to decide which would be the best angle to take a photo with.

"You never said how long you'd be around, Violet." Dave said causally as he placed his tripod down to the right of me.

"Sorry. I'm not quite sure, to be honest." I said as Vince sat back down, with paints and paper in his hands. "Chief wanted me to come down and help Nathan and Audrey with the troubles." Vince's head popped up at the mention of the Troubles.

"Don't move." Dave said, and I was about to nod when I realized that wouldn't be helpful. I stayed still as I heard the snap of his camera going off, and saw the flicker of his flash.

"You know, that flash isn't nearly as bad from this angle." I said jokingly, which earned a snicker from Vince.

After ten minutes of awkward silence filled with Dave's camera going off, and Vince's mad paint strokes, Vince finally put his paint brush down.

"I'm done." Vince stated proudly, before placing the painting down in front of me. I placed my mug down on the table to pick up the painting. It was beautiful, so much so I gasped when I saw it.

"Is that really me?" I asked, as I lightly touched the image. Luckily the paints had dried.

"Yes. But don't start fawning over that till you see my photos tomorrow." Dave said as he took down his tripod.

"What if I can't decide tomorrow?" I asked as Vince stood up, about to put away his art materials.

"Maybe we should do the same to Audrey too." Dave suggested as he was about to put his camera away as well.

"Good idea." I said smiling. I really wanted to get to know Audrey. She seemed like a nice person, regardless of the odd dark man comment.

"Shall we go now?" Vince asked, and I stood up.

"May I accompany you two men to the police department?" I asked as I walked to the door. They both smiled at me.

"It would be our pleasure, Violet." Dave said as he grabbed his camera and camera flash.

"Our genuine pleasure." Vince finished as he took his art materials.

And then we headed out into the Chilly Haven night, arm to arm to arm.

"Will she even still be here? It seems dead." Vince said as we entered the department. We continued walking down the hall, Dave in front of us.

"Told you she'd still be here." Dave said as we came into view of Nathan's and Audrey's office. I frowned when I noticed he wasn't there, and Audrey was under a pile of paperwork.

"God, I hate it when your right." Vince said bitterly, causing me to snicker as we walked into the office.

"Hey again, Audrey. I can call you Audrey, right?" I asked from beside Vince and Dave. She smiled at me and nodded.

"You should be in a bar somewhere, with your friends. Both of you, actually." Vince commented, pointing a finger at both of us. Audrey stood up from the desk and made her way to the door, a pile of paperwork in one hand, and the other hand reaching out for her jacket. I moved out of the way for her to get through.

"Or so I've been told." Audrey commented, as she walked past me. "What's going on?"

"Well, my brother and I have a long running argument about painting and photography." Dave said, gesturing to Vince with his camera flash.

"Did you come all the way down here to have me settle this for you? Can't Viola help?" Audrey asked, gesturing to me with her Jacket. We all looked at her curiously when she said Viola.

"It's Violet." I stated slowly. At this Audrey looked at me with a rose blush playing on her cheeks. I sighed and smiled at her. "And they used me as well. But I'm not always a reliable source of ending debates."

"I'd like to take your picture, and" Dave once again motioned to Vince with his camera flash, "Vince would like to paint you."

"And you choose your favorite, and the other will learn to live with it," Vince said, staring at Dave the whole time to suggest he would be the loser. "Eventually."

"So will this get you guys to leave me alone?" Audrey asked, and I snorted.

"Probably not. There isn't much news to journalize on in Haven." I said shrugging. She looked at me with a exhausted pleading smile on her face. Poor girl, she may never get used to Haven.

"Look, I can paint from the photo and it will only take a minute." Vince said, causing her to turn around at stare at the two older men.

Audrey turned around to look at me for a second, as if to make sure they were being serious. I shrugged and she sighed.

"Alright, lets do this. I mean, what else do I have to do." Audrey said as she walked into the hall way. I walked into the hallway as well, and stood next to Dave. Vince was on the right of me.

"Just stand there and be Audrey." Dave said as Audrey set down her stuff. Audrey placed her hand on the wall to learn on, and started smiling.

"This good?" She asked as she continued to try to smile. I raised my eyebrow up at Vince, and he shook his head at me as if to dismiss me. I looked back at Audrey.

"Maybe without the weird smile." Dave said, and I nodded my head.

"Unbelievable." Audrey said as she looked from Vince to me, and then back to Dave.

Dave started snapping photos. I backed up a little to get out of Dave's way when he started to move to take different angle shots. I boringly looked around, and saw a shadow on the wall near me. Except it wasn't mine or anyone's, because it was moving on its own accord in a way no one was moving.

"What the-?" I started

"If that isn't a shadow, I'd say its a dark man." Audrey said, cutting me off, and I looked at her curiously. "Watch out!" She said and she pushed Dave away, Vince and I hurriedly moved away as well. Dave started taking pictures of the Dark man instead, and I looked at him incredulously.

"You just like to use that flash of yours against anything, don't you?" I remarked lightly to Dave.

"Is that shadow moving on its own?" Vince asked from beside me.

"Yeah, it is. And I'm pretty sure it already killed two people." Audrey said, and I looked at her in shock.

"So I shouldn't be trying to make friends with it?" I commented sarcastically. The shadow started moving more, and I noticed it seemed to have a large sort of bat or something in its hand. "Oh great, it has a weapon." I said while groaning. Vince and Dave both put their arms out in front of me and started walking backwards, my body getting pushed back along with them. They moved their arms back to near their body when we were at a farther distance away from the shadow.

"Turn off the lights!" Audrey yelled as she turned off the light on the desk next to her. "You can't have a shadow without light, right?"

"How do you know that is the way this shadow works?" Dave asked, looking at Audrey.

"Well I'm just making it up, so do it." Audrey said as she walked away to turn off some lights. I followed her, not quite sure where the light switches were. Dave and Vince went in the opposite direction to turn off some other lights.

"Where's Nathan?" I asked Audrey.

"Come over here, Violet. It's dark over here." Audrey said as she motioned to a spot over on the wall, and I followed her to it.

"It's too dark over here too, right?" Vince asked.

"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking." Audrey replied to Vince.

"Where is my brother, Audrey." I asked again from beside her, growing more impatient.

"He's out with a girl." Audrey said. My mouth opened from surprise, and I slid down to the floor. "I'll try to call him for help." Audrey said as she slid down beside me, taking her phone out of her pocket and calling Nathan.

"A girl?" I asked as I turned my head to look at her. She nodded at me before looking straight ahead again.

"Well a woman. Her name is Jessica." Audrey stated. She closed her phone when he didn't answer, and then texted him saying we needed him at the police station, and to turn off any lights when he got there.

Jessica. I knew that name. For some reason I couldn't place a face however. We waited in silence for what felt like an hour, but probably was only 10 minutes. The creaking of a door tipped me off to someones arrival.

"Parker." I heard Nathan whisper, and I noticed he turned off a light when he crept into the station.

"Nathan?" Audrey and I both asked in unison from beside each other. I couldn't see him, but I knew he must have been here.

"Violet? Parker?" Nathan asked again in a louder tone.

"Present." I remarked as if I was being asked for my attendance in class.

"Yeah, hold on." Audrey said.

"Nathan, its right over there." Vince said.

"This is the worst game of hide and go seek in the dark I've ever played." I mumbled.

Audrey slowly rose up, and I followed her.

"What the hell is that?" I heard Nathan ask, and I could only assume from the sound of his voice he was close, and most likely referring to the shadow man.

The shadow man started moving again and I heard shoes scuffle and then a gun shot. A light bulb shattered, leaving us in complete darkness.

"I think it's gone." Nathan commented.

"Okay then." Audrey said as she turned out from the corner. I stayed where I was. "Now we know what the dark man is."

"That was the dark man?" I asked as I turned out from the corner as well, and stood between her and Nathan.

"Yeah." Nathan said, sending me a smile that never reached his eyes. "Now we know why everyone described him differently."

"Yeah, shadows change size depending on the light source. Do you think its what killed them?" Audrey asked Nathan.

"Maybe."

"Dave, I need you to download those images." Audrey said, pointing her finger at Dave who was now walking up to us with Vince. "There might be a picture of the shadow on there."

"He can't download them." Vince said.

"Oh, well Nathan can just show him-" Audrey started, and I cut her off.

"It's film."

"Warmer tones." Dave said, smiling from Nathan to I.

"It's how he rolls." Vince said smiling at me, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Okay, Alright. That's good. So when can you get these in?" Audrey asked and she put her palm on her head, as if to stop a headache from coming.

"Target opens at nine, I think." Dave said. Audrey nodded her head at this, and Dave and Vince left, waving goodbye to the three of us.

"So, a woman." I stated as I rocked awkwardly on my feet. Audrey shook her head, a smile evident even in the dark.

"Yeah." Nathan said dryly, and I knew he didn't want me to know or hear about this.

"So, did anything happen?" Audrey asked. I stared a Nathan, curious for the answer.

"Something was about to." Nathan replied, still in a dry tone. I shivered.

"I really don't want to hear about my big brother's conquests." I muttered. Audrey snickered at my remark, and Nathan sighed. I knew he must have already have wanted me out of Haven.

"I'm sorry again. I'm sorry." Audrey said, still a smile playing in her voice. She walked away from us to grab her stuff to leave.

"Where are you staying, Violet." Nathan asked as Audrey exited the building. I stared at him, and he stared back. He slowly started to smile, and I smiled back. "I've missed you, Vi."

"Oh, and why do I doubt that?"

When I woke up the next day at Nathan's house, I smelled nothing. I smiled at this. Typical Nathan, not bothering to do anything for his sister. I got up and showered. I didn't want to stay long in this house, so once I was ready I strolled outside. He didn't live far from downtown, probably because he was so married to his job he couldn't afford to. That also must have been the same reason his house wasn't very clean. He had a decoupage project on the dinning room table, and the kitchen had barely any food.

Last night before bed I had remembered who Jessica was. A woman who lived farther away from town now, in a house she used to only visit in the summer. I continued walking around downtown, starting to wish I had worn an extra layer. I thought of maybe grabbing Nathans truck, and making my way up to visit Jessica, but then realized taking a truck from a police officer probably wasn't the smarted idea. I continued through downtown, trying to think of people who would lend me their car. I frowned when I realized the only people I had visited yesterday were my father, brother, Duke, Vince and Dave. I continued walking around as the afternoon started slowly creeping up on me.

I smiled when the Grey Gull came into view. Hopefully Duke was there.

I sauntered into the Grey Gull, noticing a few people there for a late lunch. I smiled when I saw Duke behind the counter. He noticed me as well, and raised his eyebrow at me.

"Hey Duke." I said casually as I sat down in front of the counter he was behind.

"What can I do for you, Violet." He asked as he wiped down the counter. I smiled at him and he rolled his eyes at me.

"I need to borrow the jeep." I said confidently. He stopped all movement, staring at me in awe.

"You've seen me more than twice in one day, and suddenly you think I would give you my baby to drive?" He asked, in a tone of disbelief. He dropped the rag he was using into the sink, where a bucket was.

"Well yes." I said, looking at him pleadingly. "Look, I want to visit this woman Nathan's getting it on with." I said, making Duke fake gagging.

"Are you serious? You want to borrow my sweet jeep to visit spy on your brother?" Duke asked, looking at me incredulously.

"Don't tell me you don't respect that." I said, while smirking and putting my hand out on the counter for him to hand me the keys.

"All right." Duke said while sighing and pulling the keys out of his back pocket. He was about to drop them in my hands when he stopped. "On one condition." He smirking at me. I frowned for a moment.

"Deal." I said, raising my hand to grab the keys. He snatched them out of my grasp, raising them higher.

"I want a date, Violet." He said, as the keys dangled in his fingers.

"Awww, you want to tell the most popular girl you have a crush on her?" I asked coaxingly, going for the keys again. He once again brought them higher in the air. I stood up at this and glared at him, trying to provoke him.

"Tonight. You and me." Duke said, raising his eyebrow as if to dare me to say no.

"I'll pick you up." I said jokingly. I put my hand down where it was on the counter at the beginning, and waited for him to give me the keys.

"Meet me here at 9. My baby better be in one piece when she comes back." He said as he carefully put the keys into my hand. I smiled and rolled my eyes. I closed my hand and stood on my toes to quickly kissed him on the cheek.

Two can play at that game.

"I'll be fine." I said mockingly as I ran out of the door of the Grey Gull. From behind the counter I could hear Duke yell after me.

"I was talking about the jeep!"

I made my way up to Duke's jeep, and carefully put the key into the door. I remembered this baby well. He tried to teach me stick in it one year in high school, we both nearly died. I smiled at the memory as I pulled open the door and jumped into the seat, putting the keys in the ignition. I turned the keys, and groaned when I noticed a stock pile of parking tickets in the seat next to me. I pulled the jeep out of park and into drive, making my way up to where Jessica lives. When I pulled into the driveway it looked at if she had just gotten home, and she waved me into a parking spot near hers. I parked the jeep and turned it off, being sure to lock the doors as I left the jeep. I put the keys in my back pocket, a habit I'm not quite sure if Duke rubbed off on me or if I rubbed off on him.

"Hello hello." Jessica said politely, and I walked up to her and put my hand out to shake.

"Hi. I'm Violet Wuornos. Nathan's sister." I said as she shook my hand.

"I remember you." Jessica said as she smiled and let go of my hand. "Would you like to come in?" She asked, and she motioned to the house. I smiled and nodded.

"I would love to." I said, and she nodded back, before making her way up to her front door, me in her shadow.

"Would you like some tea?" She asked as she opened the door.

"I would love some, if you're making it." I said as she pushed the door open and waited for me to go through. I quickly walked in, and she pointed to a couch. I sat down.

"Good. Let me just call Nathan, I have to tell him something." She said as she walked into the kitchen. I nodded. I heard her drop her bag on what sounded like a counter. It sounded as if she had a bag full of medicine.

"It's important." I heard her say, and I could only assume she was talking to Nathan now. "I think I know why the patients were dying before their time, and I have proof. None of them were taking their side affect medications. I don't think they were getting their kemo. I'm at home, your sister is here actually. Pulled up the same time I did. Why? We are fine."

I was starting to feel like I shouldn't have heard that.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, too scared to leave my seat.

"I thought so." Jessica said as she made her way into the room I was in. "But now Nathan is on his way over." She finished, with a very puzzled look on her face.

"Looks like you need something stronger than tea." I said, standing up and putting a comforting smile on my face.

"You're right. Would you like some wine?" She asked as she pointed towards the kitchen.

"Well, I'd hate to let you drink alone." I said, and she smiled at me, and lead me into the kitchen. I noticed a small table with a bunch of medications on it, and she pushed them to the other side of the table, offering me a chair. "What's up with all those meds?" I asked causally as she went over to a cabinet, and grabbed to wine glasses. I sat down in the chair she offered.

"Proof for a case Nathan is working on." She said as she poured wine into the glasses. She walked over and handed me one, and I smiled and took it. She sat down across from me, and took a sip of the wine. I noticed the phone was also on the table, and she was staring at it very concerned.

"Look, I'm sure it's fine. My brother likes to have a cow about small things." I said, hoping it would ease her. It did a little, and she smiled at me. I smiled back and then looked down. I noticed a figure on the ground, and it slowly got bigger. The dark man.

"Shit." I yelled as I jumped up. She looked at me confused. "Look, we need to leave, now." I said, as I noticed the shadow once again had something long in it's hands.

"What are you talking about?" She asked as she got up and moved to the window, and I noticed that is seemed like the dark man didn't want to attack. Not yet, at least.

"Why does this dark man have to like to hang out in the same places I do!" I muttered as I threw my hands in the air. Jessica looked at me and then grabbed a knife from the counter next to her.

"I'm going to call Nathan." She muttered, and hit redial. She gave me the knife in her hand, and then grabbed another for herself.

"Nathan I think there's someone in the house." Jessica said to Nathan over the phone. I looked over at the window and slowly made my way into the other room as I started thinking of places to hide from a dark man in middle of the afternoon.

"Jessica!" I heard Nathan yell, and I looked around outside for where he was, and then was about to go back and grab Jessica when I heard her scream. I ran to her, to find her crumbled on the floor. I looked for a pulse, and luckily found one. When I looked up I saw Nathan and Audrey coming in from the hallway. Nathan ran up to the other side of her.

"I'm sorry Nathan, I don't know what happened." I whispered as I watched him check for her pulse as well, and looked for any signs of bleeding.

"It's fine Violet." He said, but I knew he didn't mean it.

Nathan and Audrey were still at the house when 8:30 rolled around. Nathan seemed to refuse to do anything but sulk, and Audrey wasn't sure how to handle that. When it was 8:35 I sighed, and told them I was leaving. They both nodded at this, and I made my way out into the cold night.

I was a little annoyed Nathan could spend hours sulking over a girl, but when his sister faces the dark man twice and then says shes leaving into the dangerous shadow filled night, all he can do is nod. I shook my head as I jumped into the jeep. Nathan and I were never that close, anyways. I made my way to the Grey Gull, and smiled when I saw Duke outside, waiting for me. I parked the jeep and jumped out. He made his way over to me.

"Don't worry, I didn't get a scratch on your precious baby." I said mockingly as I patted the jeep behind me.

"So how was your day?" He asked, probably noticing how beat up I looked.

"Well, I nearly got attacked by a shadow man, and then got to spend the rest of the afternoon with my brother who was secretly wondering why Jessica was the one to get attacked and not me." I said as I sighed, and then put my arms around my waist. It was pretty cold out, or maybe it was because I was freaked out by the dark man.

"You really know how to live, don't you Violet?" He asked, and I nodded and kicked some dirt with my converse.

"So do you, by the looks of all those parking tickets." I said as I pointed with my thumb to the jeep behind me.

"I'm in the process of fighting those." Duke said, and I rolled my eyes.

"Let's just go inside before I loose all my fingers in this cold." I said as I started to walk past Duke to the Grey Gull. He grabbed my arm when I walked right by him, stopping me. "What-" I began to ask him what he was doing when I felt him go into my back pocket, and take the keys. "That is an invasion on personal space, Duke." I hissed at him as I pulled my arm away from him, glaring.

"Like I haven't felt it all before, Violet. You're just mad you didn't walk away with my keys this time." Duke said as he raised the keys in front of my face. I squinted at him and stuck out my tongue before continuing walking to the Grey Gull.


	2. As You Were

**Hi guys! Thanks so much to SheBangBang for messaging me about how much she likes the story, and to Silently Tearful for reviewing. It means a lot to me. This chapter is longer than the last, surprisingly enough. I hope you enjoy, this is Season One, Episode 9. **

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It was now Saturday, almost a week after the incident with the dark man. The dark man was caught, and although I was eager for the details, the loss of Jessica moving away to Montreal seemed to have struck Nathan deeper than I would've expected. On the bright side I now have a photo of myself and a painting, which I proudly had shown off to Duke. He laughed at me for it, but I really did find it sweet that they would do that. Even if it was to settle a debate that in the end I couldn't settle for them. I spent most of my days doing Nathan's housework and errands. It was fine to me. The only reason chief wanted me to help was because I had grown up listening to stories about the troubles. It was the chief's way to try to keep me out of trouble. I was woken up this morning to an empty house after Duke called me at 7 am and told me he wanted me and Audrey to go see something with him.

Which brings me to where I am now, sitting on the ground of a boat, watching Duke meditate and Audrey nervously pace. Audrey seemed to have a problem with not knowing where we were going. I on the other hand was so used to these off handed adventures with Duke, that I had jumped out of bed when he called. Although I was starting to regret ever leaving the comfort of my bed and I shivered. I was wearing a few layers, but that never seemed to stop the Haven cold. That was probably the only thing I didn't miss when I was gone from Haven.

I stared at Duke, enviously eying his sweater. I could always do with another sweater on these sort of days. I closed my eyes and sighed. I should at least try to enjoy my time.

"Seriously? You drag us out of bed at 8 am on a Saturday to watch you meditate?" Audrey asked Duke. A smile crept on my face. I was starting to enjoy Audrey quite a lot. She seemed to be able to help my brother, too.

I heard duke sigh from in front of me. "Audrey, it's going to take us a while to get where we are going." I opened my eyes and stared once again at Duke's sweater. "Why can't you be like Violet," Duke said, gesturing his hand at me, "Who's enjoying the ride." I rolled my eyes at this.

"Yeah, and looking at your sweater in complete envy." Audrey scoffed, and I smiled at her. At least someone notices how cold I am. At this Duke sighed once again and took off his sweater and threw it at me, it landing on my head.

"Thanks." I remarked sarcastically to him as I took the sweater off of my head and put it on. It was completely and utterly heaven. It was warm from his body heat, and also just a quality sweater.

"You happy now? I'm never getting that sweater back." Duke huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and then closing his eyes again, trying to meditate more.

"He never asks for them back." I said as I looked at Audrey, and we shared a smile.

"Can you just tell me where we are going?" Audrey asked, looking pleadingly at both of us. I shrugged, in hopes she understand that I didn't know where we were going. "Okay, so then just tell me what this is about?" I shrugged once again, and pointed at Duke.

"Buddha says all good things come to those who wait." Duke said, not even bothering to open his eyes. I snickered at this. That was the one thing I enjoyed about being with both Audrey and Duke, it was like watching two siblings squabble. I wonder if that's what Nathan and I look like.

"Yeah, and does Buddha also say drink, smuggle and always look out for number one?" Audrey asked and she looked out into the ocean. I shook my head and put my hand over my mouth to try to prevent myself from laughing.

"I'm a reformed Buddhist." Duke replied, which caused me to snort. He opened his eyes and glared at me for a second. I continued to smile, and took my hand away from my mouth and shrugged innocently. "You're lucky I'm a reformed Buddhist now Vi, or I would have thrown you off this boat by now."

"I'd like you see you try." I said, smiling at him. That caused him to get up and bend over to me threateningly.

"Drop it Duke." Audrey said.

"Yeah, in the water with the fishes." Duke said smirking at me.

"Don't you dare, Duke Crocker." I said menacingly.

"Can you just tell me where we are going." Audrey said, and this time I realized she was saying it to distract him from his plan to put me in the water. Duke sighed and put out his hands for me to take. I eyed them closely for a second, but after detecting no deceit, I took them and he helped me from my seat on the floor. He dropped one of my hands and led me over to where Audrey was. When I tried to let go of his other hand he held tighter.

"It's called carpenter's notch. It's been in the carpenter's family forever." He said to Audrey who was on his left while motioning to the land that was coming up in the distance with his free hand. He then looked to me on his right and winked. I rolled my eyes at him. He was holding onto my hand because he knows I hate it when people touch me for too long. He refocused his attention onto Audrey. "The last of the carpenters is kind of a hermit. I hear that the grounds resorts is kinda special."

"You hear?" Audrey asked, and I smirked. "You told me you saw something special."

"Oh." Duke said, for lack of an excuse for his error.

When we finally got to shore Duke helped both Audrey and I out of the boat. At that point he had finally let go of my hand, which I was thankful for. We made our way up to the hotel, which was a surprisingly short walk, even though it was all the way at the top of the hill.

When we got into the hotel I shivered again. Duke looked at my questioningly and I shrugged. I wasn't cold this time.

"This place gives me the creeps." Audrey said from in front of Duke and I.

"You can say that again." I muttered. This mansion must have been around for decades, maybe even centuries. It wasn't something many of us from Haven would ever go visit, and my theory behind it was always that is was creepy as hell.

Right when we walked in there was a large flight of elegant stairs. Duke put his arm behind me like how he always used to do when we were walking around somewhere dangerous. It was close enough to protect me, but also far enough to not touch me. I raised my eye brow at him for this and he shrugged, but never put his arm down. I suppose old habits die hard.

"All right, now are you going to tell me?" Audrey started, as she turned her back on a door and looked from Duke and I. She was cut off however by a hand coming out from behind the door, and when she turned around everyone at the doorway yelled 'surprise!'.

I was so surprised myself I fell into Duke's arm he had behind me, and he smirked from Audrey to me. I glared at him while Audrey made her way into the room with all her friends she made in Haven. Nathan put a happy birthday hat on her head, and Duke and I stayed in the hallway for a second, mainly for me trying to catch my breath.

"You couldn't have told me?" I asked as I put my hand on my heart. Duke moved from my side to in front of me, and held out a hat for me.

"And risk you ruining the surprise?" Duke asked, and I glared at him for a second before he put the hat on my head, delicately putting the rubber string under my chin. He quickly looked around, and then leaned in and whispered, "Do you think your brother would kill me if I kissed you?" I scoffed at this and rolled my eyes and looked at the floor.

"Has he ever given you a reason to doubt that he wouldn't?" I asked as I looked into Duke's eyes. He nodded, knowing I was right.

"Later, then." He said as he turned around, putting an arm behind my back like old times, and leading me into the next room where the surprise party was.

Duke and I sat down on a couch, trying not to sit too close to each other. My brother was nearly ten feet away, and I didn't want to explain to Nathan that Duke and I were anything again. I hardly knew what we were myself. Not only that, but my father the Chief was here as well.

Over by the door Mr. Carpenter was welcoming everyone to his hotel. I exchanged a weird look with Duke. Eleanor's daughter, Julia was back from Darfur apparently. I smiled at her and waved, and she came over to us.

"I remember you, Violet, right?" She asked as she sat down next to me. I nodded. "I used to be so jealous of you in high school. Running around with Duke and the boys." She continued, and I just awkwardly nodded. She looked from Duke to I again and nodded before joining her mother who was still talking to the host. Audrey was over with them as well.

I looked over at Duke pleadingly. He just smirked back at me. My pleading look turned into a glare, and I was about to stick out my tongue at him when the lights went out. I immediately put my arms next to me to grab on whatever was closest. I ended up grabbing the couch and duke's knee.

"Easy there." He whispered to me at he put his hand on mine.

"Sorry." I whispered back as I let go of his knee. The light started to go back on and he let go of my hand. I pulled my hands to my lap. I looked over to the door to see the host run off, and I got up to look out a window. The weather didn't look so good.

"Oh great." I mumbled as I saw lightening strike. I went back to my seat next to Duke, who was looking at my concerned, but also as if he was enjoying this. I sat down. "There's lightening." I said to him and he nodded.

"Everyone is picking rooms." Duke told me, and I looked up and noticed the room was empty.

"Oh. I don't have clothes with me, Duke." I said as I turned back to stare at him.

"Your brother said he would pack some for you." Duke said, smiling at me. I rolled my eyes and got up, taking the party hat off my head.

"You might as well have told a blind man to pack for me." I mumbled as I made my way to the door. Duke chuckled at this. I found my rucky sack hanging up on the cart, along with another bag that I knew to be Duke's. "How many rooms are there in here?" I asked as I turned around to look at Duke, who had made his way over to where I was.

"Not sure. But if they run out you can sleep with me." He said, winking at me as he reached past me to grab his bag.

"In your dreams, Duke." I said as I rolled my eyes and grabbed my own bag. I made my way upstairs, nearly running into Audrey upstairs. She smiled at me and then brushed past me, to go downstairs. I continued walking.

"Where do you think your going, Violet?" I heard the chief, my father ask. I turned around and saw him looking out from a door.

"Finding a room?" I asked. He nodded and then went back into the room, slamming the door shut.

I quickly went and found a room before I could have anymore weird happenstances. It was a red colored room, with a full sized bed. I threw my bag down and then dropped myself on the bed next to it.

This was going to be one awkward weekend. Thirty minutes later I made my way downstairs, having taken off a few sweaters. I put Duke's back on, however. Just to rub it into him that I was wearing it, and that he would probably never get it back. I made my way down the hall when Audrey walked out of a door right in front of me, causing both of us to jump in surprise.

"You look great, Audrey." I said after I regained from the surprise. She blushed. "From Dave and Vince, I assume?" I asked and she nodded. "Well, we wouldn't want to keep them waiting."

"Right." She said, and we made out way down the stairs together. When we made it to the door Audrey added, "Sorry we are the last ones here."

I looked around the room, and realized we were indeed the last ones here. We also nearly ran into Nathan and Julia. "She was getting prettied up for you all." I said as I pointed to the dress.

"My birthday's in march." Julia said to Dave before she left the room. I looked over at Dave and Vince. Vince was giving Dave a sign of approval for the dress, and I smiled at this.

"You like the decorations?" Eleanor asked excitedly to Audrey. I looked at Audrey curious as to what she was going to say to make the gaudy looking decorations sound good.

"It's like a dragony..." Audrey stumbled for words, and I came up closer to her back and whispered 'under water' to her to help her out. "Under water wonderland." She finished, and when Eleanor took that as a sign that she did good, Audrey turned and gave me a thankful smile. "What is that, is that a sea horse?" Audrey asked as she turned around and pointed to one of the banners that indeed had a sea horse on it.

A scream from downstairs disrupted anyone from answering, however. We all ran downstairs, Audrey in front of me and Duke behind me. "I'm in here." Julia yelled, and when we got downstairs I gasped and stopped going further. Audrey however went all the way up past Julia to what appeared to be the skin of a person. Duke stopped right beside me.

"Get back, get back!" The Chief yelled from behind us, and we all moved to make way. "Parker, get back." Audrey moved away from the skin as well and back to where Nathan was, which was on the other side of the basement from where I was. "Don't even touch it. Oh boy."

"That looks like carpenter." Eleanor said from beside me. I looked at her and then back to my father the chief, who has taken out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.

"Carpenter was a chameleon." Chief said, and I tilted my head in confusion. I had remembered him telling me a story about a chameleon once.

"A shape-shifter?" I asked, and Nathan looked at me in annoyance.

"Father, Sister." Nathan said, as if hoping we would clue him into what a chameleon was.

"Sorry Nathan." Chief said as he lit his cigarette. "A monster, that goes by the term chameleon." Chief took the cigarette out of his mouth. "It has now shed the carpenter's body," He pointed with his hand holding the cigarette to the skin below. "And found himself a new one." He put the cigarette to his mouth, inhaling and then exhaling. "One of ours. Someone right in this room, is a chameleon. Which means one of us, in this room, is a killer. One of us is dead."

I looked at Duke, and he looked back at me. He must have seen the fear in my eyes, for he very carefully brushed his hand against mine.

"Let's all go upstairs." The chief continued, and we all followed each other one by one, in complete silence.

We all sat down in the room where a party was once being held and listened to my father tell a story about when he had first seen a chameleon. I had heard this story before, which was why I knew what a chameleon was. I sat there in between my brother and Duke awkwardly. It was like old times all over again, except this time someone in the room is actually dead.

Audrey was asking questions, most likely about how chief had to kill his own partner who had turned into the chameleon. The conversation then turned to the troubles.

"Let me get this straight." Duke started, as he got up from the seat next to me. "You haven't seen one of these chameleon things since the Reagan administration, and now, of all this times, and all the places, we just happen to get stuck with a damn storm while inside its hide out?" Duke asked, near the point of yelling. At least I didn't have to worry about the chameleon being him, this was definitely typical Duke behavior. "I'm just trying to figure out how this happens."

"We do. We were invited." Vince said, and I moved forward in my seat to look around Duke, and see Vince and Dave.

"He called us, said its been too long. That he had heard about all the troubles in town, and the new FBI agent, and was wondering if we'd like to come over for a visit." Dave said, and I put my hands on my head. I loved those two old men to death but if it got my brother or father or Duke, or even Audrey killed, I wouldn't be able to forgive them. Duke sat back down. "And then you called," Dave said,and I could tell he was motioning to Eleanor who was next to him, "You called and said you were looking for a place to put a party on for Audrey and I just thought it was fate." I looked up from my hands to see Eleanor had the most appalled look on her face at this.

"Are you trying to blame me?" Eleanor started, but then Dave started talking as well. Then Julia joined in talking, and so did the chief. I put my head back down on my hands. I felt Duke pat my back, only to feel another person's hand push it away.

"Don't touch my sister, Duke." Nathan hissed from beside me.

"Look at her-" Duke started, but I cut him off when I jumped up and yelled.

"STOP IT." The whole room stopped talking. I glared at Nathan and Duke, and then walked over to Audrey. Everyone was still silent. "You know crowd control, please help." I whispered to her when I got right next to her. She nodded.

"Guys, can we use our indoor voices please?" Audrey asked, and some nodded, while others just put their head down.

"We should probably call the mainland, let them know whats happening." Nathan said as he stood up and walked to the other side of Audrey, his cell phone in his hand.

"Yeah, good luck with that. I haven't had a signal since we got on the boat." Duke said, glaring at Nathan.

"Yeah, and the landlines are dead too. Probably the storm knocked them out." The chief added.

This party was really beginning to suck.

"Well, there's a boat house down by the water. Maybe there's a small boat out there." Duke mentioned. I nodded at this idea.

"No, no no. No one is taking any boat off this island until we know for sure this Chameleon is dead." Chief said, and I glared at him.

"What, are you going to stop me, old man river?" Duke asked as he got up and threw his arms out questioningly. "Maybe you just want to keep me here so you can eat me and take over my body."

"I'm not taking over any one's body." Chief said, "There's no use giving this killer a way to the mainland. Now if you want to fight me over this then lets do it, I've coughed up tougher than you."

Audrey walked over to the Chief, and said, "Can I interrupt this Chuck Norris revival with some logic? Why don't we go down to the boat house, and then decide what to do."

Everyone nodded in approval, even me, until Julia spoke up.

"Are you armed?" Julia asked. Chief put his hand on his chest questioningly, before shaking his head no. "Because she is." Julia continued as she pointed to Audrey. "How do we know she's not the thingy?"

"I am not the thingy!" Audrey retorted. "Ask me anything, alright. The first boy that I kissed when I was eighteen, my favorite singer is Ray Charles-"

"Ray Charles?" Chief asked.

"Okay fine I lied its Justin Timberlake." Audrey admitted, which put a smile on my face. "My middle name is Prudence, self inflicted on my confirmation. So, are we good now?"

"Well, that may all be true, but we don't know you well enough to say." Nathan mentioned, which caused both me and Audrey to glare.

"Let's all point fingers at everyone." I muttered under my breath. I saw as Audrey opened her clutch and took out the gun, taking out the magazine before dropping the gun and the magazine to the table.

"One." She said, before grabbing another gun from a band on her thigh, and doing the same to that. "Two. That's one more that you didn't know I had, and one more I could have kept if I was a bad guy."

"I suppose." Eleanor said as she got up and leaned over the table, "Little gun for you," She said as she handed the little gun to Vince, who took it. "Little gun clip for you." She said as she gave the tiny gun magazine to her daughter Julia, "And big old gun for you." She said as she grabbed the gun and gave it to Dave, "and big gun clip for.. well there's hardly enough to go around." She said as she took the gun clip and put it down her shirt. She sat back down.

"Is everyone else good?" Audrey asked.

"Well I'd certainly feel better if anyone else wasn't packing." Duke said, and looked over at Nathan.

"I've got nothing." Nathan said as he opened his jacket to show, before he went over to Audrey. "The service gun is in my room in my bag. Feel free to go look." He said, as he motioned to the ceiling.

"What about you, chief?" Julia asked.

"I was coming to a party," Chief said as he put on let up on the table and showed his ankle. "I've got nothing." He then turned around for full effect.

"Alright, anyone else?" Audrey asked. The room was silent at this. "Okay boat house, asap." Audrey said, Nathan and the chief headed to the door with her.

Luckily only Audrey, Nathan, and the chief were going to go look at the boat. I was extremely glad for this, because I didn't want to go out into the cold. I instead made my way back to the couch I was on earlier, and laid down.

"Stealing the whole couch, aren't we Violet?" Duke asked as he walked over to the couch I was on. I quickly closed my eyes.

"I can't hear you, I'm asleep." I said, and I heard him chuckling. I heard him walk over to where my feet were, and gently pick them up. I felt the couch sink down, and then my feet were dropped onto Duke's lap.

"I'm sorry this is how your first week back at Haven is like, Violet." He said to me quietly, as if so no one else would hear.

"It hasn't been all that bad." I replied, still not opening my eyes. Duke chuckled at this. "Its only been what, two troubled people so far? Could have been worse."

"Worse how?" He asked. I opened my eyes and saw him staring back.

"You could have actually meant what you said." I replied shrugging, and he knew I was referring to when he told me he never wanted to see my face again. We continued staring at each other, before he looked away sadly.

"I didn't want you to leave." He said as he stared at the fire.

"I didn't want to go." I admitted. His eyes shot back at me curiously. "Chief wanted it. And you know what he wants goes." He nodded at this and looked back at the fire.

I closed my eyes again. Eleanor came out with tea, but neither Duke nor I moved. "Maybe we should go to the attic and try to find a radio." Duke said quietly to me, and I nodded.

I felt him get up, gently putting my feet on the floor. I opened my eyes and got up as well.

"We are going to go look for a radio." I said, and everyone nodded. I was glad this time Julia didn't feel like speaking up.

I followed Duke upstairs, walking all the way down the hall. He stopped and turned around.

"What?" I asked, looking up at him. He put his hand out for me. I looked from his hand back to his face.

"Look, no offense, but you have this habit of wandering off. I'm not loosing you now that you just got back." Duke said, putting his hand out further. I know he was referring to all the times when he hadn't been paying attention, and we accidentally got separated in a forest or somewhere else where we shouldn't have been separated.

"You know, that would've almost sounded sweet if you weren't referring to the times when I was five." I said to him, and he rolled his eyes, smiling at me. I grabbed his hand and he turned around, and we continued to make our way down the hallway. At the end of the hallway was another set of stairs, and we walked up the stairs as well. Once we were at the top of the stairs, Duke opened the door and we slowly went in.

It was dusty as if the last time someone had considered cleaning it was decades ago. We carefully walked around, only having the lightening from a window to guide us.

"Aha!" Duke yelled as he ran into a table.

"I'm pretty sure that's not the noise people make when they run into stuff." I commented from behind him.

"No, look." He said as he slowly moved out of the way. There was a radio on the table.

"Great. Let's go." I said, and he quickly snatched it up and I led him back downstairs.

When we got to the room the boat party still hadn't returned, and everyone was sitting down having tea. I sat down on the usual couch, and duke followed, sitting on the arm rest right next to me and putting the radio on the table in front of him to work on.

"Thanks for the view." I whispered sarcastically to Duke. His butt was in my face with him sitting on the arm rest.

"You're welcome." He whispered back. I rolled my eyes and accepted a mug of tea that Vince was offering me. It wasn't chai, but it was better than nothing.

When the boat crew finally got back, Duke had successfully taken apart most of the radio.

"We didn't find a thing." Chief said, and I looked curiously at Nathan. Chief was using the same tone he used to us when we were kids and he was telling us that we were normal. That was his lying tone. Nathan shook his head, and mouthed 'don't' at me. I nodded and dropped it.

"Well look what Violet and I found in the attic." Duke said proudly, which caused me to close my eyes as if to brace myself.

"I told you to stay away from my sister, Duke." Nathan said threateningly.

"Relax, all we did was go to the attic and find this. This could help us." Duke replied, and I glared at Duke's back, and for the most part his ass, because that's all that was in view for me. "And no, I don't need any help."

"Then what should we do?" Julia asked.

"We should find the body. If we find the victim we know who the Chameleon is." Nathan suggested.

"So let's split up into groups." Chief suggested.

"I'll stay here with Duke." I said. "Besides, its too cold in the rest of the house." I lied. It was cold, but it wasn't that bad.

"Good idea, Just in case I need help." Duke replied, and I was glad he wasn't going to shove me off into a group to run around the house. They all left.

"My dad was lying." I said, as I starred into the fire.

"What do you mean?" Duke asked, still working on the radio.

"I mean, he said there wasn't a boat, but I could tell he was lying." I said, getting up and walking to the opposite side of the table that Duke was working with the radio on.

"Should we go check?" He asked as he looked up from the radio to me. I grimaced at the radio and looked at him.

"I don't want to. But yes, I think we should." I said, and he nodded, and got up.

We ran as fast as we could to the boat house. Hand and hand, because Duke didn't want to loose me and have me get hypothermia. When we got to the boat house, Duke just about lost it when he saw a boat. It was perfect except for the fact that it had bullet holes in it. Duke grabbed an ax and stormed out of the boat house, leaving me there freezing. I wondered for a moment if I should just stay there, but I shook that thought out of my head and ran after him.

By the time I got to the house and into the room, everyone was in there. It had taken me longer than it should have, for I had nearly fallen a few times. I looked around and noticed Duke was waving the Ax around at my brother.

"I didn't shoot the boat." Nathan said, and I walked quickly to in between them.

"He's right, Duke, he didn't do it. He wants off this island too." I said, putting my hands up at both of them to prevent them from getting any closer to each other. My vision blurred for a second.

"Vi, are you okay?" Nathan asked, and I crumpled to the floor. I was freezing cold. "Why did you let her run around in the cold?!" Nathan yelled at Duke, and as my vision blurred I saw the Eleanor and Audrey trying to move me closer to the fire.

When I finally came to I was sitting on the couch with blankets over me. I looked and saw Duke next to me, and Nathan over tied up in a chair.

"What did I miss." I said, but it came out as a whisper.

"We played a guess what you got Audrey game." Duke said, looking at me concerned.

"And Nathan came out short." Chief said, and Duke looked over at him. Chief was holding a gun.

"You have a gun." Duke said, and I groaned. Duke looked right back at me, and I noticed the ax in his hands.

"I was trying to tell you it was him." I mumbled, glaring at Duke.

"You lied." Duke stated as he looked back at the Chief, and I groaned again. If only he had stopped and listened I could have told him it was father's idea. Nathan never would've shot a boat or lied about anything unless it was daddy dearests idea.

"Chief, hand it over. We all play by the same rules." Audrey said from somewhere behind me.

"Says who?" Chief asked.

"Says the daughter who nearly died." I yelled. It seemed I had finally gotten my voice back. I noticed on the other side of the room was everyone else. They all were looking at me very concerned, except for Julia.

"Him too." Chief said, pointing to the ax. Duke sighed and dropped the ax, pulling it back so he now only had the stick, and the rest was stuck in the floor. He then threw the stick over his head. Audrey then took the gun from the chief, putting it down somewhere behind me.

"What are we going to do with him?" Eleanor asked, pointing at Nathan.

"He's not the Chameleon." I said, and everyone groaned.

"I already told you, he didn't get the present right. He's the weakest link, goodbye." Duke said, turning his body to me and face.

"I know my brother." I said, looking at Duke from the corner of my eye.

"How do we know she isn't the Chameleon?" Julia asked, pointing at me.

"Because she nearly died from hypothermia in 40 degree weather." Duke said exasperatedly to Julia, glaring at her.

"I don't see how that means anything." Julia said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You're an idiot, Julia." I muttered, which caused her to gasp and glare. I could tell Duke was staring at me. "I'm troubled. I'm hyper sensitive to anything that touches me, like the climate." At this everyone put there head down. They all had known this about me, just like they knew about Nathan's problem. "And about the gift, that's my fault. Nathan told me when I was in town that I should pick up a blue sweater for Audrey, but none of them felt comfortable enough, and I didn't want Audrey to have a scratchy sweater, so I went with a blue scarf instead. You can never have enough scarves." Everyone stared at me, completely appalled. "What? That's what you get when you tell someone with sensitive touch to go find something." I said as I glared at the fire, trying to avoid eye contact.

"What about the gun, and the boat?" Duke asked, turning around to look at Nathan.

"Well he's the one who shot the boat!" Dave yelled, pointing at Chief. At this everyone started voicing their agreement and anger.

"Alright, everyone!" Chief yelled, throwing his hands into the air. "That proves I'm not the Chameleon. The Chameleon would take any chance he got to go to the mainland."

"Any chance I could get untied before everyone goes crazy again?" Nathan asked in his usual dry tone.

"How do we know you are not the Chameleon?" Julia asked, and at this point I wanted to strangle her.

"Look," I yelled, getting everyone's attention. "If he really did say that it was a blue sweater in the box, then that proves it. Only he and I knew that he wanted me to get that. And we already ruled me out, so he must be out too."

"And how do we know that you're not?" Audrey asked from behind Nathan, to Julia. I smiled at this. I was so thankful for Audrey being on my side. "Look, we can't keep turning on each other or we are just as likely to kill an innocent person as the chameleon." She bent down and untied the ropes that were holding Nathan to the chair. "And I don't know you guys very well, but I would like to think we are better than that."

"Well, what now?" Vince asked, and a second later a loud boom shook the house, followed by the lights going off. I heard people yelling and running, but I was just glad that Duke didn't leave me here. He got up for a second, and I had a feeling he was looking for the gun that was on the table behind us. By the way I heard him feeling around for it, I assumed it wasn't there anymore. He sat back down next to me. He started moving around more, and from the other side of the room I heard Audrey yell.

"Don't even think about going for that ax!" She yelled, and Duke put up his hands.

"I'm not even thinking about it." Duke said, and although no one could see it I rolled my eyes. "But the gun is missing, and for once it isn't me. I swear."

"Vi?" I heard Nathan ask, and I assumed he was over with Audrey.

"He's telling the truth. I would've heard the gun when he moved to look for it." I said, backing Duke up.

"What the hell just happened?" Duke asked.

"Exactly what a predator would want." Nathan replied. "Every man for himself."

"You are all going to leave me, aren't you." I stated, groaning. I knew no one would let me go after I had passed out earlier.

"As much as it pains me to say, but Duke could you please stay here with Violet?" Nathan asked, and I could tell by the tone in his voice that he was struggling to say that.

"Sure." Duke said quietly, and Audrey and Nathan left.

"Thanks." I muttered, starting to try to move my arms to get out of all these covers. I felt him pull my face in his direction, so I had my face inches away from his. From what I could see from the flickering of the fire, He was looking at my lips. I looked at his, and he pulled me in to a kiss.

It was quick. When we broke apart he was smirking. "Just in case we die, you know." He said, as if trying to reassure me that was his only reason for kissing me.

"Of course, Duke." I said sarcastically, a smile creeping on my face as I worked on taking a few of the blankets off of me.

We sat there in silence for what felt like hours before I heard a scream from behind. Both Duke and I whipped our heads around, and saw a figure on the floor. I then saw the chief run up, and then look from Duke and I, to someone on the stairs.

"I'm sorry, guys." Chief said, and I closed my eyes. Nathan and Audrey ran to us as well from the basement, and knelled down around the person.

"Mom?" I heard someone ask as they went down the stairs. I realized it must have been Eleanor on the floor, for that was Julia's voice that was quivering. I closed my eyes and rested my forehead on Duke's chest. He stroked my hair. I had genuinely liked Eleanor, and for a lot of my life she was the doctor I went to about any problems with my trouble.

They covered Eleanor up with a sheet, and then walked into the room Duke and I were in. The lights had come back on halfway through them finding a cause of death. I was now staring into the fire again. Duke was up and pacing. I got up as well, and Duke looked at me stunned and I took a few steps.

"I'm fine." I said to him, trying to ignore him staring at me. I stood and learned by the fireplace, looking at Nathan and Audrey.

Nathan was staring at Audrey curiously, and at the chair he was tied up in. He then grabbed her hand. "Are you okay?" She asked, as he put her hand between his.

"No, I don't think I am." He said, and I looked at them questioningly. Nathan then went in and kissed her. My mouth opened wide at this, and I knew I had wide eyes to go with it. He broke the kiss, and stepped away from her. He then took out a gun and shot her.

"Nathan!" I yelled in shock. I ran onto the couch, and knelled on it to look at Audrey below.

"How did you know it was me?" She asked, her gaze never leaving Nathan's. Her face started to bubble.

"You killed my friend. I can feel her touch, but I can't feel yours." Nathan said, and I gasped, staring at him as well.

I sat down on my legs, in shock.

"What did you do?" Vince asked.

"She's the Chameleon." Nathan said. I could hear Audrey talking, but I wasn't listening anymore. I stared off into space, trying to get everything straight in my head. "Where is she?!" Nathan yelled, jolting me from my daze.

I looked around, and noticed Nathan run out of the room, and I ran out after him, jumping over the couch and the dead version of Audrey. Everyone followed. We ran downstairs, and Nathan started pounding on a door. He then body slammed it, and ran inside. I was starting to think he seriously cared about Audrey.

"She's in here!" Nathan yelled, and then ran to a chest. I ran to the chest as well, Duke right behind me. I helped them open it up, and inside was Audrey. I moved out of the way and Duke and Nathan picked her up out of the chest. They even dragged Julia over to make sure she was okay, but she was just unconscious. Julia used ammonia as a smelling salt, and woke Audrey up. I smiled when the first words out of her mouth was a witty comment about how crying wouldn't be tolerated.

Duke looked over at me from beside Audrey. I looked back at him, and we smiled at each other.


	3. The Hand You're Dealt

**Hey guys! Sorry for the wait. I had a presentation and midterms last week. College is serious business.  
I also had some problems with this chapter. I don't know, Its just a very weird episode.  
Anyways, I'll get to working on the next chapter tomorrow probably.  
****Thank you soo much for reviewing and favouriting and following. **

* * *

It was nearly 3 days after the freak weekend from hell. I was glad to be in between Audrey and Duke, but even more glad that neither of them had actually died. For the most part, both my father and Nathan were avoiding me. This annoyed me, but not too much. Because on the other hand of that, Duke was constantly around. He came to the house while I was cleaning and made me come with him and Audrey to see our old babysitter.

And by 'our babysitter' I mean his. Technically ours though, we always hung out. After we first met, much to Nathan's disdain, Duke never really left. We leaves us at our old high school, heading to Vanessa's office.

"The only time I was in school after 3 pm was for detention." Duke said as he tried to open a locker while we walked down the hall. I smiled at this, remembering all the times I had to wait around school for Duke to get out of detention.

"He was at school after 3 a lot." I mumbled from in between Duke and Audrey. He scoffed, and tried to open another locker.

"Did you get detention?" Audrey asked me, and I laughed. Duke stood up higher and pushed a ceiling board up.

"Unlike Duke, I knew when to run." I said as I nudged him with my elbow.

At this Duke rolled his eyes, "For the record, this place gives me the heebie-jeebies ." Duke commented as he looked around. It was my turn to roll my eyes now.

"Huh, I had you two pegged as some of the cool kids." Audrey said as she smiled at us. Duke then peaked into a closet.

"For the record, no one was cool in high school." Duke pointed out, as he motioned with his hand.

"Yeah, and definitely not Duke." I said, mimicking Duke's hand motion and looking at Duke for his reaction.

"Says the girl who only hung out with me." Duke remarked, staring back at me. "High school, like so many things, should be left in the past." Duke continued, and I looked down at my converse. I know he was talking about how I occasionally brought up his last words to me before I had left Haven.

"Wait, is that your way of saying you don't want to help me with this?" Audrey asked as we made it to the office of our destination. Duke grabbed the door handle and then turned around to look at her. I was just awkwardly standing in the middle. "Because I find a picture of the Colorado kid and I go around looking everywhere to I.D. The woman in the picture; who could be my mom and then-" Audrey continued, but I cut her off.

"Oh I know that picture." I interjected. She looked at me questioningly and Duke rolled his eyes.

"She was the girl next to me. Not Lucy Ripley, obviously." Duke said, pointing at me. "She's also the one I was hinting that needs to leave things in the past." At this Audrey looked at me surprised, and I shrugged.

"What can I say, it's always about me." I said sarcastically. At this Duke scoffed and I lightly punched his arm. "So, we are supposed to get Vanessa to talk to you, right?" I inquired, looking from Audrey to Duke. Audrey nodded and smiled. I nodded back and then turned to Duke.

"I don't see why we are doing this. I haven't seen her in more than a decade. Also, neither of us," Duke said, motioning to himself and me, "can remember anything from that morning."

He had a point. Not saying that I remember many days from when I was five, but I definitely don't remember that one. Never had, either.

"Alright." Duke said, taking one last look at Audrey and myself, and then going into the classroom. I followed, with Audrey behind me.

When we got into the room, both Duke and I were surprised how nice Vanessa looked now. Duke tried to use his witty charm to get her to talk, but I kept distracting him by whispering things to Audrey or him. Finally Audrey got Vanessa to stop flirting with Duke and focus on the photo of the Colorado kid. She wanted to help, but just like us she didn't remember anything from that morning.

Once we exited the room, Audrey sighed and I punched Duke in the arm.

"What was that for?" He asked as he grabbed his arm. I know it didn't hurt, for I've never had a mean punch. I gave him a look, and he nodded, finally understanding.

"I guess I got my expectations too high." Audrey huffed, starting to walk out of the building. We followed.

"Buddha says expectations lead to suffering." Duke mentioned, and flinched away from the hand that was about to punch him in the arm again.

"So does quoting the Buddha at me." Audrey said, looking back at us and smiling at me, whilst glaring at Duke.

"We will go see that photographer tonight, how's that? I bet Violet knows him." Duke said, grabbing my hand. I glared at him.

"Yeah, because I know everyone." I hissed back dryly, looking back at Audrey who was in front of us.

"It is all about you, after all." Duke reminded me while tugging on my hand, and I glared at him from out of the corner of my eye. I pulled my hand out of his and walked up to Audrey.

"I know the photographer, we can see him tonight." I said, smiling at her. She smiled back, and we continued walking, Duke walking behind us.

Audrey left us to go do her job, and I left to go find a job. I wasn't annoyed at Duke, but I did want to see how he would react if he thought I was annoyed at him. So far, apparently the correct response when someone is annoyed is to be a pain in the ass.

I walked downtown, looking for any 'for hire' signs. After nearly an hour of no luck, I walked into The Haven Herald.

"Hey Violet!" Dave said as he looked up from the computer on his desk and saw me walk through the door. I smiled back, and walked into the room his desk was in, and sat in front of it. He looked over at me. "Anything I can do for you?"

"Not unless you can give me a job." I mumbled. He frowned for a moment before smiling.

"Actually, I might have just the thing for you." Dave said, and he motioned me to come closer. I got up and walked around the desk, and he pointed at the computer. "We are trying to get all the old newspapers on file on the computer, so everything can be more up to date and easier to search for. I've gotten a few years up, but it takes me days. I bet you'd be loads better at it."

I smiled and nodded, looking at the computer. "I'm great with computers."

"Good. Then it's settled. Violet Wuornos, welcome aboard." Dave said, putting his hand out for me to shake. I shook it, grinning. He got up, and gave me his desk until I had my own. The work he had given me was extremely easy, and he was thankful I could do it. Around 5 Vince came, and was beyond enthusiastic to have be working with them.

At 6 Vince got us Chinese to celebrate, even though he hates the stuff. I was almost done with my Kung Pao chicken when Duke came in.

"Your chariot has arrived, my dear." Duke said, motioning to the window. I rolled my eyes when I saw his jeep out there.

"I'm almost done." I said, pointing with my chopsticks to the food. He nodded.

"She will need her strength for what we are doing." Duke said, winking at Vince. I glared at Duke before looking at Dave and Vince, whom looked extremely excited and confused.

"We are going to see the photographer of the Colorado Kid photo." I said reassuringly. They looked at me suspiciously. "With Audrey." I added, and that made enough sense to them to drop.

I finished my food quickly, not wanting Duke to be around my employers anymore. I left, after being told by Dave to come in whenever I feel like tomorrow and continue. We hopped into the jeep, and drove to the police station. I put all the parking tickets in his glove box, while ignoring his attempts at reassuring me that he was fighting them. When we got to the police station Duke turned off the jeep, but didn't get out. I was about to ignore this and get out anyways when he locked my door.

"Really, Duke?" I hissed at him.

"I'm sorry." He said, looking at the steering wheel. I didn't say anything, just looked at him with a surprised and amused look. He looked up at me questioningly. "What? I said I'm sorry."

"Exactly." I said, and closed my eyes and started laughing. There weren't many times Duke has apologized for anything. Let alone something as ridiculous as this. When I opened my eyes I saw him looking extremely annoyed.

I took this as my cue to lean in and kiss him. He was surprised at first, but once he realized it, he took the opportunity. I felt his arms wrap around me and bring me closer. When the kiss was broken, I looked at him. He winked at me, causing me to roll my eyes and get out of the jeep.

The kiss left me in a surprisingly good mood, and I happily walked into the police station with Duke behind me. We found Audrey and Nathan working at a table.

"Way to look at your own sister like she just brought in the plague, Nathan." I said, poking fun at the annoyed look on Nathan's face.

"You did, it's right behind you." He said in his usual quiet and dry tone. I rolled my eyes.

"Audrey, do you want to abscond with us?" Duke asked as he stopped next to me, in front of the table they were working on.

"I'm sorry, we were going to talk to somebody about the photo. I just, I totally forgot." Audrey said, looking at my brother. Nathan shook his head.

"Does that mean we are not doing this? Because there are plenty of other things I could be doing with this one." Duke said, pointing at me. Nathan looked up and scowled at Duke, and Audrey looked surprised. I scoffed.

"He's delusional." I said, pointing at Duke. Audrey laughed at this, but Nathan continued to glare.

"None of this is going anywhere tonight, I'll stay. You should go." Nathan said to Audrey as he looked back down at the papers in front of him. I had a feeling the only reason he wanted he to go was to prevent Duke and I from being alone.

"But there's still more people we could talk to, I could make phone calls-" Audrey started rambling, only to be cut off by Nathan.

"Parker. You don't need to be on the clock 24/7. Go." Nathan said, and I started fake coughing.

"Hypocrite." I said quietly between coughs. Nathan looked up and glared, and I just shrugged.

"Wow. Nathan Wournos being magnanimous is a rare and beautiful..." Duke started, but Nathan cut him off.

"Please, take them and go." Nathan said pleadingly to Audrey.

"Okay, thank you." She whispered to him, and grabbed her stuff and nearly had to push Duke out of the door because he was still trying to piss Nathan off.

The drive to Morris Crane's house was a lot less awkward then what I expected it to be. Audrey took her own car and Duke took me in his jeep. She followed us there.

"How exactly did you find Morris Crane?" Audrey asked after we got out of the vehicles, and started making our way to his house.

"All the courtesy of Violet Wuornos." Duke said, pinching my arm. I decided to ignore that, and turned my attention to Audrey who was beside me.

"My father is the Chief, you get to know people." I said, smiling at her. I wrapped my arms around me, very thankful that I wore a jacket today.

"You think this guy has other photos?" Duke inquired as we made our way up the hill to Mr. Crane's house.

"I hope so, he had a camera in the photo." Audrey stated.

"Buddha says-" Duke started, but between me lightly punching him and Audrey saying,

"Don't even start with me." He quickly dropped it.

We were surprised to discover while talking to Mr. Crane that he did indeed remember that morning. Apparently, he couldn't forget it. According to him, crab men came out of the water and started talking and snapping their claws at each other. Mr. Crane then proceeded to start undressing himself in front of us as he said that they ate his film, and at that point we took it as our cue to leave.

"Well, too bad my father never mentioned that he was crazy." I commented to Audrey and Duke as we made our way back to the vehicles. Audrey told us she was going to call Nathan before leaving, and we nodded and left in Duke's jeep.

The next day I woke up bright and early for a long day working at The Haven Herald. Around noon though I decided I would go bug Nathan for a while. I was starting to get really annoyed of his brushing me off when he got home from work. I was his sister after all.

I told Vince how many years I got done (Three) and he told me to not even bother coming back for the rest of the day. I thanked him, and he thanked me. Apparently I was worth 100 Daves' at this pace.

I made my way over to the Police station, enjoying the nice day. I noticed the high school baseball team practicing, and I smiled at this. I had heard about the boy who died last night when Nathan got home. I was glad to see them working through it.

I walked into the Police station, and saw Nathan over with a boy and what appeared to be a sketch artist. I ignored this and was on the process of walking around them when Nathan told me off.

"Violet, what are you doing here?" He asked, annoyed. I smiled and looked at him.

"Can't I spend time with my favorite brother?" I asked, and smiled at him sweetly. He rolled his eyes.

"Busy." He stated, as if that was going to get me to leave.

"Where's Audrey?" I asked, looking around. I looked down, and noticed the sketch artist drawing what I could only assume was Vanessa. I tried my best to not show any signs of familiarity with the image.

"Busy." He stated again, and I rolled my eyes.

"Fine. You win this time." I said, turning on my heel and bolting it out of the police station. I made my way as fast as I could to the Grey Gull, where I knew Duke would be. When I got there I was completely out of breath.

"Whoah there, are you okay?" Duke asked as he made his way from his spot at the counter over to me. I nodded and walked past him, motioning for him to follow. We got outside to a more secluded spot and I sat down.

"A sketch artist at the police department was drawing Vanessa." I stated, looking at duke. He looked completely surprised as he sat down across from me. "Do you know why that could be?" He shook his head.

"No. Good thing she's coming here soon. You can ask her yourself." He started, and put his hand over my mouth when he noticed I was going to question her coming here. "I wanted her to come so I could apologize to her for flirting with her. And to, you know, tell her that we have a thing." He said, motioning from himself to me. He took his hand off of my mouth.

"We have a thing?" I asked, but before he could answer I spotted Vanessa. I waved at her and she came over. "Welcome." I said as she came up to us. I faked a smile and she smiled back.

"This is the Grey Gull." Duke said, motioning to all around him. She nodded.

"Don't see any Grey Gulls." She commented to Duke. Duke and I shared a glance.

"Yeah, they are not allowed inside."

"Oh." She said, her smile faltering for a moment. She looked from me to Duke for a second, and then asked, "So, are you two together now or something?"

"Yeah." Duke said in the most unbelievable voice. I looked at him incredulously. He looked at me questioningly and then looked at Vanessa, who had a look on her face that said she didn't believe it. Duke quickly grabbed my hand that was on the table. I sighed and decided to go with the act.

"They tried to keep us apart." I started as I put my other hand on his hand which was on my hand, and then looked to Duke for help.

"Buddha once said, the way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart." I raised my eyebrow at this, but he ignored it.

"I'm happy for you two, then." Vanessa said, smiling at us. The high school baseball team came in from behind me, and I turned for a second and watched.

"Not to pry, or anything, but is there any reason my brother Nathan would have a sketch artist drawing your face?" I asked. She looked at me shocked.

"He does?" I nodded. "I've got to go." Vanessa said, and started walking away.

"Vanessa, it's okay. I could probably-" I started as Duke let go of my hand and we both stood up to follow Vanessa. I stopped what I was saying however when she bumped into a high school kid and bent over in pain. "Are you okay?" I asked, but before I could reach her she had continued to run away, bumping into people and gasping in pain as she went. I looked at Duke and he looked back, and shrugged.

"Well that was weird." I huffed as I went back and sat in the seat I was in before. Duke nodded and sat back down as well. "I feel bad for Vanessa now. She seemed quite keen on you." I said as I looked back to the bar where she had once run into a guy and nearly keeled over in pain.

"Why wouldn't she be keen on me? Have you seen me before?" Duke asked as I looked back at him while he motioned to his body.

"Whatever, narcissist." I said, shrugging it off. "Maybe we should call her, to make sure she's alright."

"You can." Duke said as he stood up. I put my hand out, expecting him to give me his phone. He looked at my hand and then laughed. "First the Jeep, and now my phone? Do you own anything Violet?" Duke asked as he took the phone out of his back pocket, and dropped it into my hand.

"Why would I need to own anything when you have it all?" I said chastely as he walked away, probably to go back and make sure everything was going well inside the bar he owned.

I looked at his previously dialed, and saw that he had called a number earlier. I called it, and got the voice mail of Vanessa. I waited ten minutes, and during that time Duke was kind enough to get me a glass of water. I tried again, to no avail. I was starting to seriously worry. After 40 minutes and 5 phone calls, I sighed and shut the phone, putting my head on my arms on the table.

"No word?" Duke asked. I didn't even bother to look up at him as I nodded my head. "Should we go to her house?" I nodded my head, taking it off my arms, and pushing myself away from the table and off the seat, following Duke to the Jeep.

When we made it to her house, Duke pounded on the door. After ten minutes of no answer, we agreed he could now pick the lock. Once we entered the house, I was shocked. The front of the house looked so normal and eloquent, but right when you went into the living room their were drawings and figurines and writings about explosions, and other ways people could die.

"This doesn't look too good." I muttered as I touched a hastily done drawing of a black figure covered in fire.

"No, it doesn't." Duke said from behind me. I turned around and looked at him. "I think we should maybe leave." He said as he walked around a table that was covered with paper.

"Yeah, maybe." I said as I followed him, and then stopped on the other side, and sat down on the couch, picking up some papers and reading them.

I wasn't sure how long we were in there looking around, when I heard a pound at the door. I jumped, and in my surprise had dropped the papers I was reading. I looked at Duke, who was sitting next to me, and he nodded, getting up to open the door.

I collected the papers I dropped, and looked up to see Audrey and Nathan.

"We came here looking for her and we found, well all of this." Duke said as he led Audrey and Nathan into the room I was in.

"So you just let yourself in?" Nathan asked, looking from Duke who was standing up near where I was sitting, and myself.

"Yeah. Call a cop." Duke said in a very annoyed tone. Nathan grimaced at this and nodded. "She came by the Gull earlier." Duke started. At this Nathan glared directly at me.

"You tipped her off didn't you." Nathan hissed at me. It was my turn to glare back at him.

"You want to let me talk, or arrest your sister?" Duke yelled sneeringly to Nathan.

"Vanessa, the Gull, then what?" Audrey asked, looking at Nathan to silence him and then looking over at Duke and I.

"As I was staying." Duke said, and I moved over to make room for him as he sat down next to me. "We were at the Gull, we were all talking, and somehow she found out about the sketch. I don't know." Duke said, raising his hands and shrugging. "Then she took off. That was an hour ago or so."

"She wouldn't answer my calls, so we came over here to check on her. That's when we found all of this." I said motioning to the mess of everything around us. "It's all pretty freaky."

"Kinda manic." Nathan stated, looking at Audrey who nodded in agreement.

"Wait, look at this." Audrey said, picking up a piece of paper and showing it to Nathan. "Those names that are crossed off, those are the two people at died yesterday." She then looked up from the paper and at Duke and I, "this a hit list?" She asked, pointing to the paper.

"A hit list?" I repeated disbelievingly. "You did meet her, right?"

At this Audrey shrugged, and put down the paper. "You knew her what? 27 years ago? You know people change." Nathan commented, looking from Duke to me.

"You didn't." Duke hissed at Nathan, while I glared at the floor.

"Okay. Matt, Matts on the list next." Audrey said, probably in an attempt to prevent any further fighting between Duke and Nathan. "You guys know any Matts?"

"Matt West, he's a student on my witness list." Nathan said, looking over at Audrey.

"Alright, let's get to him before she does." Audrey said, standing up. Nathan stood up as well, and I looked at both of them, and then at Duke. Duke looked back at me and we both sighed, and got up.

We followed Audrey and Nathan to their van, which we apparently now had to ride in. We drove to where Matt West lived, and Audrey and Nathan jumped out of the van. Duke and I followed them as they raised their guns at someone in a car, whom from the looks of it was Vanessa.

"Hands up." Nathan called, and from inside the car Vanessa slowly raised her hands.

"Slowly get out of the car." Audrey said, and Vanessa slowly tried to get out.

"You don't understand, there is going to be an explosion." Vanessa pleaded as she was half way out of the car.

"Yeah, does that have anything to do with this?" Audrey asked as she pulled out of her pocket the list of names.

"Yes. No! You don't understand. There is only a few minutes to save Matt." Vanessa continued, and then doubled over in pain. Duke grabbed my hand and ran over to her, dragging me with him. "No don't touch me!" Vanessa yelled when we were within a foot of her. "You have to save him. There is going to be an explosion. A propane tank is going to explode."

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked from beside Duke, looking at her and then at Audrey and Nathan, and then to Duke whom shrugged.

"Just let me show you." Vanessa pleaded, and we all nodded. She walked around Duke and I, and made her way to the back yard of a house, Nathan and Audrey next to her, and Duke and I behind them. She stopped and pointed. "There is Matt." She said, pointing at a boy whom was being wrestled by another boy.

"Hey, knock it off!" Audrey yelled, and the boys stopped rough housing and stared at us. I looked around, and noticed a grill.

"Propane tank, there." I said, pointing towards under the grill. Duke let go of my hand as he and Nathan started running for the tank. I was about to run with them when Nathan pushed me back.

"Stay over here, Violet. You are going to get yourself hurt again." Nathan hissed before he ran around the pool. I stared at his back in shock.

"Everyone back!" Nathan yelled, and Audrey and I stood still.

"Move back, move back!" Audrey and I yelled, getting people to get as far away from the grill as possible while remaining on the other side of the pool. Duke and Nathan grabbed the grill, and threw it in the pool then ducked. Audrey and I ducked as well, and then looked at the pool when nothing happened. Suddenly, after a few moments through an explosion erupted from the pool.

I looked at Duke, who gave me the thumbs up, and then to Nathan. He was arresting the boy who was rough housing with Matt.

After the mess of an afternoon, Nathan drove Duke and I back to his jeep, and then Duke drove me to the Grey Gull. He closed the bar early, something about Audrey and Nathan coming over with Vanessa later to talk. I continued to stare out the window, looking at the ocean.

"You okay?" Duke asked as he came over from wiping down all the tables. I didn't respond until he bent down next to me and lightly grabbed my face, bringing it to look at him.

"Am I weak?" I whispered, staring into his eyes, looking for any detection of an upcoming lie. The thumb of his hand that was still cupping my face began to stroke my cheek.

"Remember when I first met you?" He asked, and I looked down and nodded.

"You dared me to go into the forest."

He pulled my face back up so my eyes met his. "Yeah, and then you dared me to go in too. You weren't afraid at all. You ran ahead of me, and freaked me out beyond belief. You are the strongest person I know, Violet. I know I seem protective of you, but I only do it because it makes me feel better about myself. You haven't needed someone to protect you since the day I met you. Yeah, you don't wear as many layers as you probably should, but you don't let that stop you." I stared into his eyes, and saw no sign of a lie.

Without even thinking, I went in and kissed him. Second time within 24 hours, I had voluntarily touched someone. More so then just touched. My arms wrapped around his neck, and his hand stayed on my face, as if in an attempt to keep my face where it now was. His other arm wrapped around my back, almost pulling me off of the chair I was in.

That is, until we heard giggling. We broke apart instantaneously, both of us as if we were trying to put as much distance between each other as possible. I nearly fell off of the chair, and we both looked to see Nathan, Audrey and Vanessa had walked through the door. Audrey was the one who had been giggling. Nathan on the other hand looked as if he had just died. Vanessa looked confused, almost like the median reaction out of the three.

"Right then." Audrey said, as if saying that would wash away the image from my brother's brain. It worked well enough, for they all came and sat at the table around me, Duke on my left, and Vanessa on my right.

They discussed Vanessa's trouble, but I once again wasn't paying attention. They decided to all meet up tomorrow morning at Vanessa's house, to try to make sense of all her drawings and doodles. Audrey and Vanessa left together, Audrey planning on taking her home. I was then dragged away by Nathan before I could even say anything to Duke. Duke knew not to test Nathan at this moment, which I was thankful for.

We quietly made it to his truck, and both got in. I was actually thankful for the silence, but I knew it wouldn't stay silent.

"So, Duke." Nathan stated dryly as he pulled out of the parking spot at the Grey Gull.

"Don't you even go there with me, Nathan." I remarked, trying to mimic his dry tone. I looked over at him to see him frowning even more so then usual. The ride home for the most past was silent after that.

"He said he had never wanted to see you again." Nathan said as we pulled into the driveway of his house.

"I'm pretty sure you don't get to ignore me for and then judge me on my life choices." I snapped back, and once the car was in park I opened the door and stormed into the house.

I didn't hear from Nathan the rest of the night, and when I woke up I felt extremely guilty. I quietly walked around the house, and any guilt I felt left me when I realized he left me here. I was supposed to go help them at Vanessa's house, but apparently yelling at the designated driver relinquishes rights.

I groaned and ran around the house, trying to find clothes to run in. Her house may have been on the other side of Haven, but that wasn't going to stop me. After slipping on a sweatshirt and some jeans, I ran to the door and slipped my converse on. I then bolted out of the house, a little annoyed by the pain in my legs. I apparently needed to run more, I was getting out of shape.

I wasn't sure how long it took me to run over here, especially that for the most part I was walking, and sometimes limping. I ended up stopping and getting something to eat at a convenience store, and sat down outside on the curb as I ate the chips.

I got up and threw the bag away, annoyed. I had a job that I couldn't just skip. So I changed directions and started running to The Haven Herald.

When I got there I nearly fell into the door, almost breaking the glass door. I then stumbled to the chair, which Dave had quickly got out of to give up for me. When I finally sat down, I looked over at Dave and Vince.

"Go get her some water." Dave hissed at Vince, and Vince glared at Dave but ran off to get me some anyways. "Are you okay Violet?"

"Sometimes, I really hate my brother." I stated as I peeled my sweatshirt off of me, starting to burn up from the run.

"I understand the feeling, Violet." Vince said he came back with a glass full of ice cold water, still glaring at Dave. I accepted the water gladly, and started chugging it down.

"He's been better since she's been back, though." Dave said to Vince, whom nodded agreeably as he sat down next to Dave.

"Yeah, he's hardly been spending his nights at the station anymore." Vince said back to Dave, whom nodded.

"He used to spend his whole nights at the police station?" I remarked, and they both looked at me surprised, as if they had forgotten I was there.

"Well, yes." Dave said, looking from me to Vince, whom nodded in agreement.

"What, did he not have me to baby over to he had to take care of the whole town?" I asked rhetorically as I threw my hands into the air. I looked over at Vince and Dave who smiled and nodded. I glared at them.

They continued looking at me hoping that I'd let it go, and after a few minutes I did, deciding to instead use this pent up energy to work. Vince went and got me more water, which I once again took happily.

Hours later and I was starting to get extremely annoyed I didn't have a phone. Vince and Dave were talking, and I wasn't paying attention. I had stopped my typing, and was thinking of all the places and things I could be missing, when Vince spoke to me.

"You should come with us, Violet. It should be fun." Vince said as he grabbed both his coat and Dave's.

"Where?" I asked, snapping out of my trance and looking over at him.

"The kids put up a movie in the park. We were thinking about getting some food then going. We didn't choose the best day though..." Dave trailed off as he grabbed his coat from Vince.

It suddenly all made sense. The images and writing I was reading about at Vanessa's house, it was kinda like a movie. Some of the parts were, and from what I gathered most of the ones in the room were about that event. I jumped up, startling both Vince and Dave.

"That's it. Where is it?" I asked as I walked over to them, my hand out for the keys to their car.

"Uhm over on Notting hill I think." Dave said surprised, while Vince gave me the keys carefully.

"Great. Stay here." I replied the keys were placed into my hand, and I ran out to the car. From behind me I heard Dave yell 'Like we could go anywhere without the keys!'

I quickly floored the old buick, very glad I didn't have to worry about clutching. Once I made it I realized how dark it was, and parked next to Nathan's truck. I looked around and noticed the four of them not too far away, as if they had just gotten here. I turned off the car and ran over to them.

"Nathan!" I yelled in a hush tone, and he jumped and whipped around. Duke looked around too, but his face showed concern.

"This is dangerous Vi, get out of here." Nathan hissed as I stopped next to him and Duke.

"Like that's ever stopped her." Duke huffed. "Look, stay over with Audrey and Vanessa. They might need your help." Duke said as he pointed to Audrey and Vanessa, whom were only feet away.

I nodded grimly at this, and without even looking at Nathan, I went over to Audrey and Vanessa. I smiled at them and they returned it. "So who are we looking for?" I asked as I stopped in front of them.

"Matt West. But he isn't up by the film, so he must be somewhere else." Audrey said as she pointed to the windmill like thing next to us.

"So we are evacuating. Got it." I said as I turned around, and waited for Audrey to take the lead. She did, and Vanessa and I followed as she held her badge out, telling people she needed for them to leave. From beside me Vanessa grunted.

"It's coming." Vanessa whispered to us, and Audrey nodded. She took this as her cue to get people to leave faster.

An explosion erupted from behind us, near the screen. I turned around in shock to see, as everyone started to get up and run. Audrey spotted Matt West and ran over to him, Vanessa and I following. She yanked him down from trying to climb up the windmill.

"Let me go, leave me alone!" Matt yelled and Audrey was pinning him down. I looked at Vanessa who was beside me when breathing quickened.

"You okay?" I asked as I turned towards her. The explosion erupted again behind us, causing Vanessa to gasp and her breathing to pick up more. "You're okay Vanessa." I said to her, unsure if I should touch her or not. I stepped up closer to Audrey, hoping to get her attention about Vanessa.

Audrey was talking to Matt West in hushed tones. I couldn't hear them, until he yelled 'Try to prove it in court!' and then somehow got out of her grip. He ran past both Vanessa and I, and Audrey whipped around, Gun aimed at Matt.

"I'm not going to let this happen." Vanessa choked out, and went running after Matt.

"Vanessa no!" Audrey and I yelled in unison, and I started running to catch up with her. I was close, but then a fire erupted in front of her, knocking her to the ground.

I ran up and knelled down beside her. Duke joined me on the other side of her, and so did Nathan. Nathan then got back up and drew his gun as Duke picked up Vanessa, and I got up as well. I walked right next to Duke as he cared Vanessa and put her down on a blanket. I knelled down on the other side of her again, and grabbed a blanket from beside me rolled it up, placing it under her head. Duke let go of her. He continued to talk to her, trying to keep her conscious. I checked for a pulse, and felt a very sporadic rhythm.

I looked up at Duke, and we shared a worried glance before concentrating again on Vanessa. I ignored the explosion that erupted in front of the screen.

"You are going to be okay." Duke said as he looked around for the ambulance we could hear. "See? They are coming for you."

"I'm not." Vanessa said between labored breathes. Duke and I once again shared a concerned look. "But its okay. I don't want to live with this condition."

I grabbed her hand, and she looked from the sky to my eyes. "You don't get to just give up." I said to her as I let go of her hand.

"There is no fate." Duke said, causing Vanessa to make a noise that sounded like an attempt at laughing.

"You wanna know what I saw about you two?" Vanessa started, "There's a man with a tattoo, He kills you." Vanessa said to Duke whilst going into detail about the tattoo, and then looked over at me. "The last thing you see is Duke's dead body."

Vanessa took one final breath, and then her eyes closed. I immediately got up, away from her body and avoiding Duke. I walked over to Audrey and Nathan.

"The last thing I see is Duke, dead." I said to Nathan. I felt as a tear left my face. I was about to walk away from Nathan, when he grabbed me into a hug. I hugged back, and for the first time in a long time, I actually wanted my brother to take care of me.


	4. The Trial Of Audrey Parker

**This is apparently considered the smallest chapter (wordwise) of the chapters so far.  
Next chapter will leave off EXACTLY where this one ends, with a little segment of Audrey and Violet talking and her and Duke's relationship.  
I didn't want that to be in this chapter, because I wanted this chapter to be focused on the actual episode.  
Once again, I hope you enjoy and review, favourite, follow, etc.  
X  
**

* * *

"I call." Duke bragged triumphantly from the left side of me. It was Saturday night, and we were on his boat with Audrey and two of his poker friends, named Ezra and Tobias. "So, Audrey. Do you call, raise or crumble?" Duke asked as he looked to his left, where Audrey sat at the head of the table.

I looked down at my cards. Three jacks. I was never good a poker, but this time I have a feeling I might actually win. Tobias and Ezra had already dropped out.

I smirked and looked to my side, to see Duke smirking back. Ever since last week when we found out how we died, we've been sticking together for the most part. And for once, Nathan hasn't had a cow about it. And for once, Nathan also wasn't ignoring me anymore.

I looked across the table, to Tobias and Ezra. Ezra was nearest to Audrey who sat at the head of the table. Ezra weird-ed me out, especially because he had won the last time we played poker yet this time he dropped out. Ezra seemed to enjoy an off kilter sense of discussion, which made up for Tobias's lack of talking.

"What is your favorite kind of nut, Ms. Parker?" Ezra asked intently as he placed his hands on his knees and turned towards Audrey. I snickered quietly as to not bring any attention to myself and brought my feet up to my chair. Duke noticed however and put his hand on my foot. I ignored this and looked at Audrey, waiting for her to respond.

"He means beside Nathan." Duke added as he looked at me and squeezed my foot. I sneered at him and tried to bring my foot up to kick him, but he pushed it back to the chair. I rolled my eyes at him as he smiled at me then we both drew our attention back to Audrey.

"Why do you want to know?" Audrey asked Ezra skeptically.

"A nut says a lot about a person." Ezra stated, still intent on hearing Audrey's answer. Audrey looked at me and I shrugged, smiling.

"Pistachios." Audrey stated turning her attention to Ezra. Ezra nodded his head.

"Technically not a nut. It's actually a seed. Baker's would call it a 'culinary nut'. But, technically not a nut." Ezra stated, looking down at the table. Duke looked at me confused and I looked back at him, wide-eyed and trying not to laugh.

"So do you call or what?" Duke asked as took his hand off of my foot and stared at Audrey..

"She can't call." Ezra stated, and Audrey looked at him weirdly before looking back at Duke.

"He's right. As much as I'd love to call, I can't." Audrey said as she tossed her cards face down onto the table. Duke took this as his cue to turn his attention back to me.

"So, what will the lovely Violet Wuornos do?" Duke asked as he placed his hand on my knee, and jerked it around. I slapped it away, glaring. "Warning, I've got a good hand." Duke said as he brought up his previously slapped hand to point at his cards. I smirked at this.

"Can your good hand handle," I started as I brought my feet back to the deck of the boat, "My call of three jacks?" I asked as I slammed down my hand, my eyes never leaving Duke's.

"Two pair!" Duke shouted as he threw his cards down, and then realized I beat him. "Three jacks?! Damn!" Duke yelled as he looked at my cards. I laughed and settled back into my chair, smirking away at him. He looked from my cards to me repeatedly before smiling and shaking his head.

After a moment of silence Tobias went to collect all the cards from the table, but then Duke stopped him.

"Let's see how bad the damage was." Duke said as he turned over the cards that Ezra had. "Full house?! What are you, hustling me?" Duke asked as he looked at Tobias and Ezra.

"No. He just gets confused." Tobias said as he took his arm from the table and patted Ezra on the back.

"Can't get too confused, he took my money last week." Audrey said, looking at them.

"Yeah, mine too." Duke added. "What is this? A con? You trying to cheat us?" Duke asked wearily as he clasped his hands together, elbows on his knees.

"No I don't." Ezra started as he raised his hand, and then dropped it. "I felt bad for taking all your money last time, sorry." Ezra continued as he brought his hand back up and motioned to both Duke and Audrey. "I thought I should lose for a while."

Audrey chuckled at this. "Okay, well in that case you can definitely keep playing."

"Yeah, especially if it's me who reaps in the benefits." I said smugly.

Duke paused for a moment before shrugging. "Yeah, that's good enough for me."

Duke scooped up all the cards, and started shuffling. I looked around the table, and noticed Audrey and Duke were almost out of beer. "Should I grab another round?" I asked, looking around the table. Duke smiled and nodded.

"Actually, I should have rum down there, in the cabinet. Everyone fancy a shot?" Duke asked as he continued to shuffle.

"Sounds good to me, want me to help you get glasses Vi?" Audrey asked, looking at me. I smiled and stood up, nodding.

"That would be lovely, thanks." I said as I walked around Duke, being sure to ruff up his hair a little on my way around. Audrey also got up, and followed me into the boat.

"Okay, so the glasses are right here." I said as I opened the cabinet next to the liquor cabinet. Audrey went up to it and started grabbing shot glasses.

"So, what's the story with you and Duke, anyways?" Audrey asked as she stacked 5 shot glasses into her hand, and then closed the cabinet door.

I chuckled at this as I opened the liquor cabinet and started looking for the rum. "A lot longer of a story then you would guess." I said as I spotted the rum, and grabbed it. I closed the cabinet and looked at her. "I'll tell you later. Promise."

Audrey smiled at this and turned around to go back to the poker game. When we got to the deck she turned to me and said "I'm going to hold you to that promise."

I laughed and settled back down next to Duke, while Audrey passed out the glasses. "What promise?" Duke asked as I took a glass from Audrey, and started pouring rum into it.

"Audrey wants to know about us." I said as I finished pouring, and gave Duke the bottle.

"That could be a dangerous promise." Duke mischievously said as he took the bottle, and started pouring himself a shot.

"I hope you're not trying to scare Vi into backing out." Audrey said as Duke handed her the bottle. I laughed at this.

"He's just worried I'll tell you about all those embarrassing quirks he had as a kid." I said to Audrey, before looking at Duke.

Duke glare at me quickly turned into a smirk, and he looked around the table. Everyone's glasses were filled. Duke grabbed his glass and raised it. "Champagne for my real friends, real pain for my sham friends."

"You realize you told me to get the rum, right?" I asked Duke jokingly as I raised my glass.

"It's just a saying." Duke said back, and I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, or a song by Fall Out Boy..." I mumbled under my breath as everyone clinked glasses. I then slowly sipped on my shot, never being one for doing shots. I noticed Audrey had just thrown the rum over her shoulder. I put my glass down once I was half way finished. Duke rolled his eyes at this and took my glass, finishing it for me.

He then smiled at me, and I smiled back. That was always our thing, I would drink little, and he would finish it off for me. It was a weird system but it worked.

"Right, so is there a signal on this rust bucket?" Audrey asked as she pulled out her phone. I giggled at this.

"Whoah! Rust bucket?!" Duke asked, acting appalled, which made me only laugh more. I watched as Audrey got up, still looking at her phone, and went into the corner.

"Deal me out." Audrey said as she pointed to Duke.

"Gotta call the wifey?" Duke asked as he grabbed the cards in front of him.

"Ha, that I do." Audrey said as she started pressing buttons. It was now Ezra's turn to put in his two cents.

"Uh, same sex marriage is illegal in the state of Maine. Is she from Vermont? Because it is legal in Vermont." Ezra asked as he pointed over his shoulder at Audrey. There was a long pause after this which included Duke and I exchanging glances for Ezra added "I was joking."

Duke started passing out cards, and I looked over at Audrey as she conversed on the phone with Nathan. I noticed behind her a man walked up, and I tilted my head curiously at this.

"Audrey!" I yelled as I jumped out of my seat and pointed behind her to the man. Everyone at the table was startled by my actions. Audrey ended the call on her phone, and turned around.

"Don't worry Violet, this is my boss." She said as she looked back over at me, and the man came up on the boat. "This is Agent Howard." Audrey introduced us.

"Can we talk in private?" Agent Howard asked Audrey.

"Yeah, use the boat." Duke said as he started picking up the cards he had been dealing. He then looked at me and I slowly sat back down, embarrassed.

"I thought it could be a serial killer." I whispered to him as I looked at the deck and he started reshuffling the cards.

"In a suit?" Duke whispered questioningly back, moving his head closer to mine to talk.

"Like you haven't seen weirder." I shot back in a hushed tone, turning my gaze to him. Duke smirked at this and nodded, before re-dealing the cards, this time not dealing for Audrey.

Two games later I was starting to get concerned. Audrey still hadn't finished talking to Agent Howard. My mind eased at the idea that she probably was just giving him a verbal report about Haven.

"Ugh!" Duke groaned as he threw down his cards and stood up. Ezra seemed back on his winning streak and within the first game had taken all the money I won, and within the second game cleared all of Duke's money.

"I told you." Ezra said as he smiled at Duke.

"Yes you did. I have never met a player like you. And no offense, but I hope I never meet another player like you." Duke said to Ezra, and he waved his hand around at Ezra. I rolled my eyes at this. "I'm out." Duke continued as he turned and looked at me. He then looked back at Tobias and Ezra, and added "Good night" before dropping his hand.

"Wait. One more round." Tobias said, with a beer in his hand.

"No thank you, I'm out." Duke sighed repeated to Tobias. Duke turned his back for a moment before Ezra started talking.

"Hey, I will put double what I won into the pot." Ezra said as he put his hand on the table as if he was trying to grab Duke's attention. "Double is times two. And I will even give you an extra draw, which is also times two."

I looked curiously between Duke and Ezra. Duke seemed very interested in this offer, but I also knew that like me, he was wondering what the catch was.

Duke scoffed and scratched the back of his head before asking, "Why would you do that?" and pointing at Ezra.

"You have something that I want." Ezra stated, pointing at Duke. My eyebrow raised at this. "Uh, need. It's important to me. Big time important to me. See? I've got my reasons." Ezra continued in is awkward manner.

Duke slowly nodded his head at this. Duke and I exchanged confused glances.

"So, you in?" Tobias asked, still holding his beer bottle.

Duke groaned and then slowly walked back to the chair next to me, and slowly sat down. He then looked from Tobias to Ezra. "What do you want?"

Duke once again threw down his cards. "Unbelievable." Duke said in a ill tempered manner as he glared at Ezra.

"I had a feeling he was going to go for the flush." Ezra said from the top of this hands as he leaned on the table, smirking at me. I merely glared back. "Lots of feelings about it, actually. Tons."

"How nice for you." Duke said, trying to keep his calm. I looked at Duke sympathetically. He smiled weakly back at me.

"So, we can collect on that," Tobias said as he reached into the middle of the table and lifted up the sheet of paper that said the object in question, "And be gone." He continued as he dropped the paper back down. "Far, far away." Tobias finished as he looked from Duke to myself.

"Finally. A silver lining." Duke replied sarcastically to Tobias. A look of imcomplacentness washing over his face as he looked back at the table.

"Violet." Duke said to me as he patted my hand and grabbed it. I looked over from Tobias to him, and smiled. "Will you join me as I fetch this for these boys?" Duke asked as he started getting up, tugging me along.

"Sure?" I asked skeptically as I got up with him, and let him pull me into the boat behind him. "Any reason I had to join?" I said quietly to Duke once we were out of earshot. He shook his head and didn't reply. "Will you tell me what you lost then?" I asked, starting to get annoyed. He opened the door for me and let go of my hand, and I walked into the hull of the ship behind him.

"Oh. Just a baseball card." Duke brushed off. I scoffed. "What?" He asked, not looking up as he moved a barrel.

"You? Collecting baseball cards?" I asked incredulously. He looked up and sighed.

"Look, I don't think that's what they wanted. That's why we are down here." Duke said as he looked at me. Suddenly the door behind me slammed shut, and I jumped. Duke swooped right up to me, and spun me around so he was closer to the door than I. He then looked back at the door and let go of me, sighing. "I was afraid that might happen."

"Oh, well at least one of us has a clue what's going on." I mumbled sarcastically as I sat down on the barrel he has just moved. Duke went to the door and tried opening it, only to fail. He groaned as we felt the boat shift, and start moving. I looked around and then back at him. "So, if you knew that this-" I said motioning to the boat around us, "was going to happen, why did you let it?"

Duke chuckled at this. "Well, it wasn't my first choice I promise you that." He said as he walked up to me. I stood back up. "But it seemed better than leaving you alone with them." He said seriously as he placed his hands on my waist.

"Is that supposed to me sweet?" I asked as I placed my hands on his elbows, and looked up into his eyes.

"Well, yes." He stated as he leaned down. He quickly kissed me on the lips, and then took one of his hands off of me, and banged the metal next to us. I looked at it surprised as it swung open like a door, showing four guns. I looked back at him to see him smirking, and I smirked back. "I've got Violet, and I've got options."

"Now that's romantic." I said as I placed my hand on his neck, and brought his face down to kiss.

The kiss was broken when we felt a jolt of the boat, reminding us of the situation we were in. He grinned at me as he grabbed a gun, and gave it to me. I smiled at the gun as he grabbed a gun for himself. Having been raised my father, also known as Chief of the police, I had learned how to shoot a gun at an early age. Never had to kill anyone, but at least we had some method of defense.

I looked back up at Duke, who was now moving another piece of metal. I smiled at this and jumped up and down excitedly. "The escape hatch! You still have it?!" I asked eagerly as I stopped jumping up and down.

"Of course I do." Duke said smugly back as he placed the metal on the floor beside the barrel. He then looked up at me and smiled.

"Hello in there!" Tobias said from the other side of the escape hatch, causing both Duke and I to aim our guns. "I have to hand it to you, that was smart." Tobias said, causing Duke to shoot. Except he didn't have any bullets. I groaned at this and opened the barrel of my gun, to see I also had no bullets. "Very smart." Tobais continued as I threw my gun down on the floor. Tobias then closed the hatch from his side, locking it.

"I thought it felt too light." I groaned as Duke opened his barrel to make sure he had no bullets.

"He took my bullets." Duke stated, shocked. I nodded at him, still frowning. Duke then went into thought for a second before whipping out the gun he always cared tucked behind him, and opened the magazine. "He took all my bullets!" Duke yelled and he dropped that gun and grabbed a box that was supposed to be full of bullets, and threw it on the ground as he pointed at the escape hatch. "How could he know about this? Only we know about this!" Duke said in a tone that suggested he was trying his hardest to not yell.

"It's okay." I said as I went up to him and put my hand on his arm in a comforting manner.

"These guys have been one step ahead of me since they got here. It's not annoying when you are, but with these guys its both annoying and insulting." Duke said as he grabbed the hand that was on his arm, and held it in his.

"So, are we out of options?" I asked as I swung my hand around, thus swinging his.

"Yeah. We just get to wait now." Duke said and I nodded.

"Well, might as well just sit down." I huffed as I sat down exactly where I was standing, Duke being pulled down next to me. "Are they going to kill us?" I asked as Duke sat down next to me, our knee's and shoulders touching as we sat cross legged.

"Nah. We're no good to them dead." Duke stated as he looked at me, an empty smile on his face.

"What do they want?" I asked, my eyes never leaving his. "Well, so here's what I'm thinking." Duke said as he looked at me, and I nodded for him to continue. "They cased the place. Found a box that isn't here now, and now they want it." Duke said, and I nodded once more, this time not really understanding.

"So, we've been played?" I questioned, and Duke looked at the floor in front of us and nodded. "Well, I've always wanted to be played." I muttered sarcastically, as I looked at the floor as well. This caused Duke to chuckle. I heard a creak and my eyes immediately flashed to Duke, who was also looking back at me.

"Do you feel that?" Duke asked, as he started to get up, dragging me up with him. He let go of my hand as he started to look around.

"That shouldn't happen unless we are on the titanic, right?" I asked as I stayed completely still, my eyes darting around the room.

Duke brushed past me to the wall we were just sitting by, and touched the metal. I watched him as his eyes picked up from the ground to myself. "We are starting to list." Duke muttered before looking back around. "We must have sprung a leak."

"The boat is leaking?" I yelled questioningly at Duke. He nodded, the anger in my voice matching the look on his face. I backed up, placing my hands on my head.

Suddenly the door behind me flew open. Duke was too far away to grab me before I was being grabbed by someone. I yelped as they roughly grabbed my arm, and I whipped around to see Ezra with a gun pointed at me, and beside him Tobias with a gun pointed at Duke.

"Let go of her." Duke said as he looked from me to Tobias, while putting his hands in the air in surrender. I glared at Ezra and Tobias. Tobias smirked at Duke's reaction, realizing I was indeed important to Duke.

"Give her to me." Tobias said, his eyes not leaving Duke's while he motioned for me to be handed over. Ezra's grip tightened before it loosened and he shoved me over to Tobias. I stumbled but was then grabbed by Tobias, who now had his gun pointed at me. I looked back at Ezra to see his gun was now pointed at Duke.

"Tell us where the box is." Tobias said as his grip on my arm tightened. I involuntarily yelped at the pain searing in my arm. Once again my trouble was being used against me. The pain shouldn't have been as bad as it was, but that's what happens when you have a trouble like mine. Nathan gets a cut and doesn't feel it, and I get a cut and nearly faint from pain.

"Okay, okay, I will." Duke said pleadingly as he kept his hands raised up, but slowly moved closer. "Just please, stop hurting her."

Tobias jerked me closer to him, and put the gun on my head. "Tell us now, or Violet becomes red." I closed my eyes at this, trying to imagine myself in a situation where there wasn't a gun on my head, or pain radiating from my arm.

There was silence for a moment in which Duke was figuring out his options, but that was enough for a pause in negotiations for Tobias to change his plans.

"I'll take this one up to the deck. You keep working on Duke." Tobias said as he started to back up, forcing me to back up with him. I shared one last look with Duke before being pushed in front of Tobias, and being forced up the stairs and onto the deck.

I carefully walked up the stairs, my hand over the bruise forming on my arm from where Tobias and Ezra had grabbed me.

"Keep your hands where I can see them!" Tobias yelled as he jabbed my back with the gun. I quickly raised my hands up in the air as we walked into the middle of the deck. Tobias kept the gun aimed at me as he backed up, and grabbed a chair. "Sit." Tobias commanded and I grudgingly sat down. He then went behind the chair with some rope, and tied me to it. He then stood up and came in front of the chair.

"He won't tell you." I said cautiously as I watched Tobias pace in front of me. At this he laughed and pointed at me, while continuing pacing.

"He will if he thinks you're in pain." Tobias stated, and before I could even comprehend what he said, I screamed from pain. I carefully placed my cheek on my shoulder, trying to cushion it from the hard blow I had received.

"You're an ass." I commented as I lifted my head up and looked at him. He nodded at this as was about to place another punch when Ezra ran past him.

"We got it!" Ezra stated happily as he went to a rope that was hanging off the boat, and pulled up a box.

Tobias smirked at me mockingly and then turned his back on me, and went to help Ezra with the box.

"Let's go tell them we got it." Tobias said in a hushed tone to Ezra as he untied the rope that was on the box. Ezra nodded at this and without a second glace at me they left.

Ten minutes later and they still weren't back, so I started looking around and trying to devise a plan of escape. Luckily I didn't need to look any further, for Audrey came sneaking out of the boat towards me. We smiled at each other as she ran up to me, and knelled down beside the chair to untie the ropes binding me.

"You have no clue how happy I am to see you." I said to her as I looked down at her. She smiled back up. "And you have no clue how happy I am that you went into a room with an escape hatch." I continued as she finally untied me, and I dropped down to the other side of the chair, looking around as she did for any signs of Tobias or Ezra returning.

"Some game of poker, huh?" Audrey asked as she looked over her shoulder then back.

"They weren't here for poker. Apparently they wanted some box." I replied to her and I continued to look out for Tobias or Ezra. "Oh!" I gasped as I looked at Audrey, and grabbed her arm for attention. She looked at me curiously. "The boat is sinking."

"Okay. So we need to outsmart someone who knows your next move-" Audrey started, but I cut her off.

"He knows our next move?" I asked as I let go of her. She nodded, and continued.

"Who knows your next move and fast because the boat is sinking." She finished, and I nodded. "Follow me." She whispered and darted off behind me. I quickly got up and followed.

She led me to the room where Agent Howard and herself were once locked in.

"No time for introductions." Audrey said hastily as she grabbed Agent Howard's briefcase, opening it. "Here, put this on and then go outside. " Audrey said as she gave me an ear piece that was inside the briefcase that belonged to Agent Howard. I nodded and put it in, and then went back onto the deck, Audrey following me then hiding behind a large crate.

I wasn't quite sure what they plan was, but I trusted Audrey enough. I nervously walked farther onto the deck, looking around for any sign of Ezra or Tobias.

I tripped over a piece of rope, but didn't fall. Tobias and Ezra who were on a part of the deck not in my sight ran into my sight when they head this, guns raised.

"How did you get loose?" Tobias asked as they both came closer.

"You know, magic and such." I stated sarcastically as I raised my hands in the air.

"Don't come any closer." I yelled. I then heard Audrey in my ear.

"_take off your shirt. Pretend you know what you're doing." _

"Why?" Tobias asked. And I sighed and then grinned.

"Because!" I yelled and I ripped open my flannel shirt, beholding my tank top underneath it. I then threw the shirt off of me. I looked from Tobias to Ezra, who both seemed extremely startled.

"_Dance"_

I smirked and started doing the Charleston. "Yeah? You like that?" I asked and I spun around and continued. The look on their faces alone was enough for me to know this must be working, somehow.

"What's happening Ezra?" Tobias yelled to Ezra, while still watching me change to random dance per Audrey's instruction.

"I don't know! It's like her head is completely blank!" Ezra yelled as he placed his free hand on his head, gun still aimed at me.

"Well that's rude!" I yelled at Ezra, while stopping an Irish jig.

"I don't know, maybe she has a gun or something, I don't know!" Ezra yelled to Tobias as he continued to hold his head.

"Maybe we should shoot her." Tobias said as he re-pointed his gun.

"_Strip"_

"Look!" I yelled as I carefully placed my hands on the hem of my shirt. "No gun!" I yelled again as I slowly started lifting my shirt up over my head, and doing a 360 for them to see. "Nothing!" I yelled again as my shirt fell to the deck, and I slowly started taking off my jeans. I had a hard time kicking them off while wearing converse, but I managed. I stood back up in front of them, in only my underwear and bra.

"_Say this, 'it's moments like these where your life flashes before your eyes'"_

"In moments like these, your life kinda flashes past your eyes, am I right?" I asked, trying to stop myself from wrapping my arms around my bare abdomen.

"I don't understand what she's doing!" Ezra yelled, Tobias looking from Ezra and then to myself.

"_I never learned to saddle a horse."_

"I never got to saddle a horse!" I yelled, throwing my hands farther into the air.

"_I never ate cottage cheese."_

"I have never eaten cottage cheese!" I yelled, waving my arms around frantically.

"_I never learned how to do the electric slide."_

"I never learned how to do the electric slide!" I yelled as I pointed at Tobias, a look of sadness for my lack of sliding on my face.

"I don't know whats happening!" Ezra yelled pathetically, his hand leaving his head.

"_I need a hug."_

"I need a hug!" I yelled exasperatedly as I continued to point from Ezra to Tobias.

"_Look, birds."_

"Look! Birds!" I yelled as I pointed out in the distance. They both looked and then I kicked Tobias in the chest, knocking him down. I quickly bent down and grabbed his gun before Ezra could get it.

"Don't try me!" I yelled at Ezra as I pointed the gun at him. Audrey came out from behind the crate, gun pointed at Ezra as well. Ezra put his hands in the air before dropping the gun.

I looked at Audrey quickly out of the corner of my eye before running into the boat. "Where are you going?" Audrey yelled.

"To get Duke!" I yelled back. I heard a muffled come from her as I ran down the stairs, but I knew she had it handled up there. I nearly broke the door open when I slammed into it, realizing I was going to regret that later when it hurt.

When I got the door open I found Duke tied into a chair, looking at me extremely confused and worried. I smiled at him but then looked down, realizing I was still in only a bra and underwear.

"Stop gawking." I muttered to him as I felt a blush creep onto my cheeks.

"You haven't changed much." Duke said smirking as he looked me up and down.

"Pig." I remarked as I started to leave, to go get my clothes.

"Violet! Don't leave me down here!" Duke said as I walked out the door. I smiled and ignored this, running upstairs to find Audrey at the top the the stairs with my clothes.

"Thanks." I said as I grabbed them from her, not even bothering to change anywhere else. I quickly pulled my jeans up and put on my tank top. I threw the flannel on without bothering to button it as I went back downstairs, and Audrey went to talk to Agent Howard.

I walked back into the room to see Duke exactly how I left him. I smiled and leaned on the door frame as he looked back up at me. "You going to stop staring?"

"Doubtful." Duke replied. I laughed at this, nodding and pulling myself away from the door frame.

"Fair enough."


	5. Best Friends

**I'm sorry this chapter is so short!  
I just wanted to get the not episode bit out of the way and then head onto the next episode. Don't worry, once this is posted I'll be working on the next chapter.  
(Resurfacing) which will probably have a lot of Duke/Violet madness. Hopefully some Nathan/Chief/Violet talk too, because her family is crucial.  
****If you have any questions, or just want to see more/longer chapters not related to the episodes, please tell me! I'm very flexible. Like, literally I can put both my feet over my head. Review/Favorite/Follow to your hearts content!  
X**

* * *

"Fair enough." I said as I strolled over to where Duke was still tied onto a chair. I went around him and untied him. I stood back up and he did too, grasping his wrists that probably hurt from the rope.

"What happened, Vi?" Duke asked as he looked up from his wrists. I smiled and kicked the chair out of the way, throwing my arms around his neck.

Duke carefully wrapped his arms around my back. I smiled at this and loosened my grip. He mimicked my actions and I looked into his eyes. He took one of his hands from around me and brought it to my face, a look of sorrow filling him as he went to stroke where I had been punched. I flinched away, and that look of sorrow turned to anger.

"I'm going to kill him." Duke muttered angrily as he started to pull away, looking at the door.

"Duke, no." I said calmly as I pulled him back to me. He looked back at me, smirking. I rolled my eyes at this, then smiled at him. "You need to go fix a leak." I reminded him, causing his smirk to momentarily turn into a frown.

"If you say please." Duke teased as he pinched my waist. I smirked back and smacked his hand away from my waist before getting on my toes and placing a kiss on his lips.

I got off my toes and backed away, grinning at the look of shock on his face before I started to walk out of the room.

"That works too." I heard Duke mumble as I left the room, starting to walk up the stairs. I looked up at the top of the stairs to see Audrey there, smiling.

"Duke is going to fix the leak." I told her as I made it to the top of the stairs. She smiled and nodded.

"Right. Well coast guard was on its way but now we are on route back to the harbor. So nothing to do but wait." She said as she started walking back into the room where Agent Howard and herself had been trapped. I followed and looked around.

The room looked quite disheveled, and even one of the window's was busted. I laughed at this as she turned around.

"Duke's going to be pissed about that." I said to her as I motioned to the window, before making my way over to the table.

"Yeah. And about Duke..." Audrey started as I sat down at the table, and she sat down on the opposite side, looking at me suggestively. I laughed at this and nodded.

"Well I did promise." I stated as I shrugged. "Where should I start?"

"The beginning is good." Audrey said as she smiled at me. I nodded.

"Well, I was five." I started as I looked down at the table, trying to collect my memories. "As you've probably been told, Duke and Nathan were in the same grade. Duke was invited to Nathan's birthday party at my dad's house where we obviously lived at the time. I being his sister, was also there. It was getting dark, but the boys were still playing around outside. I went outside right when Nathan ran off back inside to get another piece of cake. When I was outside I heard Duke daring some other kid to go into the forest. I laughed at this, accidentally bringing the attention to me. He then dared me to go into the forest. So I dared him."

Audrey laughed, causing me to look up from the table. "That's how you too became friends?" She asked incredulously. I smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, apparently I have moxie or something." I said while shrugging.

"Moxie? More like a bunch of sass." Duke cut in as he walked into the room. I rolled my eyes at this. Duke continued smiling and looking from me to Audrey. "Did I miss anything?"

"Aren't you supposed to be fixing a leak?" I asked Duke as I tilted my head at him. He smiled and nodded.

"All fixed, actually. Right on time too, I'd hate to miss the story." Duke said as he sat down next to me on the booth side of the table, causing me to move over to make room for him. He smiled at me and then looked back at Audrey. "Where were we?"

"She just dared you to go into the forest." Audrey stated, pointing at me. I nodded, and then looked at Duke to see if he was going to continue the story.

"Right." Duke sighed, and then nodded while smiling. "So, Violet dared me to go into the forest too. She was quite the pistol. Well, still is." Duke continued, having to stop briefly to dodge my hand that was going to punch him in the arm. "So we went into the forest. When we came back out Chief gave us hell." I looked at him skeptically and he shrugged.

"Don't you have a boat filled with water to empty?" Audrey asked Duke, which caused me to snort. Duke glared at Audrey as she smiled, holding in her own laughter.

"I'm sorry Duke but you are horrible at story telling." I said as I used my hand to fan my reddening face. He rolled his eyes at me, and then quickly pinched me in the ribs. I yelped at this and he smiled as he got up.

"Well, I'll let you ladies have your chat." Duke said as he turned around at the head of the table to look at us. "And maybe if I'm lucky by the time I'm back your periods will have synced up." Duke finished as he pointed at both of us before walking back out, probably to go work on cleaning up the leak further.

I turned back to look at Audrey, who was giving me a wary smile. I smiled back.

"So, you guys became friends. What's next?" Audrey asked as she brought her hands up to the table and rested her head on her weaved together fingers.

"We didn't just become friends. We became best friends." I corrected her as I mimicked her posture. She nodded, waiting for me to continue. "My father didn't like this, because he had always had a problem with the Crocker's, for other reasons that just that Duke and Nathan had disagreements."

"You call sticking thumb tacs into Nathan's back a disagreement?" Audrey questioned skeptically. I grimaced and shook my head.

"There's a longer story behind that, but I'll save that for later." I stated, which Audrey nodded in agreement to. "Lot's of history to get through. We dated in High school, I guess." I remarked, going back off into thought about high school.

"You guess?" Audrey asked in the same disbelieving tone. I nodded, directing my attention from the past back to her.

"Well, it was more assumed than anything. We were voted most likely to marry within 5 years." I said causally. I noticed the same quizzical look on her face, which caused me to smile and nod. "Small town. They have nothing else to do but plan your life for you." I explained, and it was her turn to nod. "Anyways, yadda yadda we almost got married, my father sent me away, usual stuff." I said very quickly, trying to avoid talking about the rest of our relationship. Audrey however seemed to pick up every word I said.

"You almost got married?" Audrey asked loudly, but thankfully enough for me Agent Howard took this as the right time to walk into the room, thus stopping any conversation.

"We just got into harbor, and will be needed to transport the criminals onto shore where the coast guard and Haven P.D. will meet us." Agent Howard stated, and I quickly nodded my head and ran out of the room, and onto the deck.

When I got onto deck I saw Duke watching both Ezra and Tobias, who were tied and on the deck of the boat. I smiled at him and he beckoned me over to him. I obliged, slowly walking right up to him. He wrapped his arm around my waist as I put my head on his chest.

"I told Audrey that we nearly got married." I muttered to him as I looked out into the distance, where I saw the dock coming into view. I felt him nod and a chuckle erupted from his chest.

"Letting all the dirty laundry air now aren't we?" Duke asked rhetorically, causing me to lift me head off of his chest and smile at him.

The wind blew and some of my hair went into my face as it always seems to. Duke chuckled at the look on my face as my hair tried to get into my eyes. He lifted his arm that wasn't on my waist and brought it up to my face, pushing my hair behind my ear. I rolled my eyes and swatted his hand away, only to have him catch it.

"Want to stay the night, help me get the cape rouge unflooded?" Duke asked, still holding onto my waist and hand.

"That's a cover story isn't it?" I asked while smirking at him. He smirked back and nodded.

"Sure." I said, shrugging and grinning.


	6. Resurfacing

**This chapter is kinda short, but I didn't really think Violet would have much involvement in this episode. **  
**I'm super sorry for the delay! I had this week of no inspiration, and I also got my nose pierced. **  
**Not like that would be a factor to me writing or not, but still. **  
**Huge thanks to TragicAtBest13, Tsovy, Emberrox42, and Mujona for reviewing the last chapter. It really means a lot to me!**  
**The next chapter is the Season 1 finale!  
X**

* * *

"We'll be back shortly, Violet. There's a ship wreck that needs to be put in The Haven Herald." Vince said happily as the door shut behind him and Vince. I smiled and stretched my back.

Last night I had stayed over on Duke's boat. It was nice, to be back into the swing of our usual antics. He then woke me bright and early with some coffee, which wasn't nearly as bad as it used to be before I had taught him how to use a coffee marker way back when.

I was going to have Duke drive me back home (Nathan's House) before work, but he still had some of my clothes hanging around. I was quite surprised, and would've teased him about it if it wasn't for the fact I was incredibly grateful I didn't have to go home before work.

Don't get me wrong, I still teased him for it. Just once I was in the clothes so he couldn't take them back. After that Duke had withdrawn his offer of driving me to The Haven Herald, which was fine with me because I stole another one of his sweatshirts while he wasn't looking and left before he realized it was gone.

But that was a few hours ago. Ever since then I was gossiping with Vince and Dave, until they got a call to actually go do their job. Luckily for them they weren't just paying me to sit around with them, because I still had managed to get a few more years cataloged while we had been talking.

I closed my eyes for a moment, enjoying the quiet. I heard the door open and smiled, assuming it was Dave. "Did you forget your camera again?" I asked, not bothering to open my eyes.

"And if only I could take a photo of this." Duke replied, causing me to open my eyes and look at him in surprise. "You slacking?" Duke asked as he walked into the room and sat down on the chair across from the desk I was behind.

"No, I was just closing my eyes for a moment." I replied defensively as I glared at him.

Duke smiled and leaned in. "Did I tire you last night?" Duke asked with a smirk on his face. I sneered and stuck my tongue out at him.

"It's this computer, it's hard to look at for too long." I explained as I put my feet up on the desk and pointed to the computer.

"Isn't that my sweater?" Duke asked as he pointed at the sweater I was wearing while raising a brow at it.

"Perhaps." I replied. Duke rolled his eyes at this. "Do you want it back? Because I'm not giving it back." I stated in an unconcerned tone while looking at my fingers. I then looked up and noticed Duke smirking. I raised an eyebrow at this but then realized where I had gone wrong.

Duke got up from his spot, still smirking at me. I nervously put my feet back on the floor. He slowly walked around the desk, watching me like a hawk.

"Duke, no." I said as I pointed at him while he moved closer. He stopped a foot in front of me and paused. I then grinned and dropped my hand, thinking I had won. Before I could even react I was thrown over his shoulder.

"Duke, let go of me!" I yelled as I punched his back. The blood slowly drifted to both my head and feet. I groaned at he turned around, swinging me around. He then proceeded to walk towards the door.

"What's the magic word?" Duke jokingly asked as he continued to make his way for the door, and started to open it to leave with me still over his shoulder.

"The magic word is you're going to hit me with a door if you're not careful, dumb ass." I yelled back as I covered my head with my arms to stop any door-to-head collisions while he walked through the door. Duke chuckled at this.

"Good try." Duke responded as he continued to carry me down the steps of The Haven Herald. I groaned when I realized I wasn't getting out of this. He carried me all the way over to his Jeep, which was parked on the road near The Haven Herald. He then opened the passenger door before carefully dropping me into the seat.

"Now don't run off." He said as he pointed his keys at me, which he must have gotten out of his pocket while he was caring me. I rolled my eyes and smiled before bringing my feet fully into the jeep and closing the door. He moved out of the way of the door and smiled before walking around the jeep and hopping into the drivers side.

"Yeah, I'm going to jump out of this jeep just to have to chase me down and then carry me back again." I remarked sarcastically to him while still grinning. He nodded, still smiling and turned on the jeep.

"You're a terrible runner Violet." Duke remarked, causing me to act appalled. He raised his eyebrow at this and I gave up and nodded. He started driving.

"Yeah. Definitely not winning any medals in that area." I agreed as I looked out the windshield to see where we were heading.

"You make up for it in plenty other areas though." Duke mentioned offhandedly. I smiled and rolled my eyes at this, turning my head to the window to watch as we drove towards the Grey Gull.

"Why am I needed at the Grey Gull?" I asked as we pulled into the spot Duke always parked his jeep at the Grey Gull. I looked at the truck beside Duke's to realize it was Nathan's.

"I'm having a meeting with your brother and if you're there then he's less likely to kill me." Duke explained as he parked and turned off the jeep, then turning to me to gauge my reaction.

"He's not going to kill you unless you did something extremely stupid." I reminded him, then laughed. "What did you do this time?" I asked.

"I'm wounded Violet." Duke melodramatically said as he placed his hand over his heart. "How could you side with your brother?" He asked, still faking dramatics. I rolled my eyes and opened my door, jumping out. He did the same thing on his side. He walked around to the back of the jeep to the back and I did as well on my side, and I leaned against part of the trunk.

He smirked at me and I shook my head, smiling. He opened the trunk via the window, and he grabbed a bag from inside. He closed the trunk back up and motioned me to follow him, and we both started to head to the Grey Gull.

I noticed Nathan siting on the porch or the Grey Gull, and he grimaced at us as we headed over to him. Duke grabbed a chair as we headed over to Nathan, and sat it in between the chair that was across from Nathan and Nathan himself.

I sat down in the chair he had just placed down, so I could be literally in the middle of them.

"How's it going big brother?" I asked as I looked at him. He rolled his eyes at me and focused his attention on Duke.

"James Garrick's boat washed up on the beach this morning. I think shoddy material is what brought it down." Nathan stated to Duke. I looked to the other side of me to see how Duke would respond.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Duke remarked, with surprisingly a small amount of compassion in his tone, although whom the compassion was for is unknown.

"Sorry because you sold them the parts?" Nathan asked, bringing my attention to the other side of the table.

"Because it is a tragedy." Duke explained, and I looked back from Nathan to him. "I sold him non-essential parts."

"Can you help me find who sold him the other parts?" Nathan asked, and I didn't even bother looking at him, and instead looked straight in front of me at the ocean.

"That I can do. But I can't help you if I'm dead." Duke mentioned offhandedly, and I scoffed.

"He's not going to kill you." I stated jokingly, cocking my head sideways and looking at Duke.

"Not him. Bud out Vi." Duke brushed me off, waving his hand at me as if to prevent me from continuing speaking.

"Then why am I here?" I asked, still looking at Duke.

"Don't tell my sister to bud out of things, Duke." Nathan hissed at Duke, causing me to roll my eyes and turn my head to look at Nathan.

"Yeah, because you just needed to be added into the mix, Nathan." I sarcastically spat at him, and then stood up. "You know what, I'm going to go inside and have some coffee or something. Come find me when you guys are over." I continued as I looked from Nathan to Duke. I then nodded at their silence and turned to go inside.

I continued walking to the door, and stopped at I grabbed it, whipping my head around to look at them I yelled "And don't kill each other."

I walked into the Grey Gull and sighed as I stopped to look around for an empty chair. The only empty chairs were at the bar, and I trudged over to where Duke normally sat if he was at the bar.

I sat in silence, waiting patiently for them to finish. I should have felt bad for leaving them, but this is one of those things that they need to figure out themselves.

Finally, after what felt like years I turned to look out at the porch and saw Duke waving through the window for me to come back outside. I smiled and jumped off the bar stool, and hurriedly weaved past people and headed outside.

When I opened the door to go outside, Duke was waiting for me by the door. I smiled at him and looked around for Nathan, to see him going through the trunk of his truck.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked Duke as we started to head over to where Nathan was, but before he could respond I spoke again. "Did you two kiss and make up?" I asked smugly, looking at him to see his reaction. He just grinned and shook his head.

I looked in front of us as we stopped a few feet away from Nathan. I was smiling until I noticed that the thing he was looking for in his trunk was my bag, that had all my clothes and everything I had brought to Haven. He held it out for me, waiting for me to take it.

"Are you kicking me out?" I asked Nathan, while looking at the bag to him.

"I thought you might like to stay with Duke on his boat, considering you did last night." He replied as he continued to look at the bag, avoiding eye-contact with me.

"What did you say to him?" I hissed at Duke. His hands quickly flew into the air in mock surrender and shrugged.

I groaned and looked back at the bag that Nathan was still holding out for me.

"You don't have to if you're that opposed to living with me again." Duke mumbled and I glared at him from the corner of my eye as I snatched the bag out of Nathan's hand, and without a second glance at either of them I went over to Duke's jeep, threw my bag in the trunk, and then stormed back over to them.

"You." I stated as I pointed my finger at Duke. "I will see you tonight. Thanks for letting me live in your boat." I said to Duke, and then pointed to Nathan, glaring at him. "You are going to drive me to work." I told him, and he nodded. I waved good bye sweetly to Duke and then made my way to the passenger seat of Nathan's truck, and jumped inside.

Nathan came around from the trunk and got in on his side of the truck, and turned it on in silence. There was more silence as he pulled the truck into reverse, and I sighed. He pulled out of the Grey Gull driveway and started driving to The Haven Herald.

"I'm trying to keep you safe, Violet." Nathan said quietly, and I stared at him in shock. He quickly glanced at me and continued. "Dad is starting to think the troubles are getting too dangerous, and he has a point. Since the day you came here your life has been put back into jeopardy. I know you're not going to leave again, even if dad tried to force you out again. But I want you to be safe, and Duke – no matter how much I hate him – can keep you safer than I can."

I continued to stare at him in shock. He glanced at me quickly a few times, and then parked in front of The Haven Herald. He looked at me, waiting for me to exit the truck. Instead I quickly hugged him.

After I pulled away I opened the door, and looked back at him. "I love you, big brother."

He smiled and nodded, and I jumped out of the truck, closing the truck door behind me.

I headed inside of The Haven Herald, and smiled when I noticed through the window that Dave and Vince were back, and standing a few feet away from each other. Right when I stepped into The Haven Herald the sound of the two brothers bickering could be heard. I giggled quietly and made my way into the main room, stopping and leaning against the door frame of the room. They didn't notice my arrival, and continued to bicker.

"You are the nosiest person ever!" Vince remarked scoldingly to Dave, who threw his arms up in annoyance.

"That's how you write an article, Vince. You collect the statements." Dave hissed back, glaring at Vince.

"What part of an article about a shipwreck would the answer to 'what you ate this morning' factor into?" Vince asked incredulously. I giggled at this.

Dave opened his mouth to respond to Vince, but heard my giggling and turned to look at me. The annoyance in his eyes disappeared.

"Hey Violet! We came back and you were gone." Dave said to me as he smiled at me. I smiled back and looked at Vince, whom stopped sneering at Dave for a moment to smile at me as well.

"Yeah, I was stolen away for pretty much no good reason." I explained as I pushed myself away from the door frame and walked over to my chair, sitting down in it.

"Probably a better time being stolen then having to prevent Dave from asking ridiculous questions." Vince huffed as he left the room to go into the kitchen. I laughed at this while Dave just rolled his eyes.

After 30 minutes of bickering from Dave and Vince, they finally calmed down and started working. That was until Audrey came, and explained to us the shipwreck situation and how it was to be handled in the press. Apparently shoddy parts being sold and then breaking was the reason for the ship wreck.

I ended up walking to the boat at around 8, trying to enjoy the fresh Haven night. As I walked slowly downtown I became extremely grateful that I had stolen Duke's sweater.

I was surprised to find that once I got onto the Cape Rouge, Duke wasn't home yet. I took that as my opportunity to make lay on the couch and relax. I must have dozed off because suddenly I felt Duke's hot breath on my face, and his hand gently shaking my shoulder. I slowly opened my eyes to see Duke only inches away from my face, smiling. I smiled back.

"I was going to throw your bag at you to wake you up, but it's really heavy. What do you even have in here?" Duke asked as he lifted up the bag that was in his other hand. I rolled my eyes and sat up. He dropped the bag on the floor and got up from kneeling on the floor, and sat next to me.

"Oh you know, dead bodies and such. Normal stuff." I replied sarcastically as I laid my head on his shoulder. He chuckled and nodded. "Where were you?"

"Having a drink with your brother and gambling." Duke replied, and my head shot up from his shoulder in surprise.

"Seriously?" I asked, trying not to gawk. He smiled and nodded. I raised my eye brows in shock and shrugged to myself.

I wasn't sure how long their truce would be, but it didn't matter to me because at least it had happened for a few hours.


	7. Spiral

**I thought this was extremely short but it's actually more of a medium sized chapter.**  
**Sorry if it gives you feels.**

**I have a Question:**  
**Considering this is the end of season one, should I make season two a different story or just keep having it be this same story?**

**Also, for those of you who are curious as to Violet's trouble:**  
**Imagine touch as being like a volume control. It can either be turned up extremely high, or muted.**  
**For Nathan it is Muted, and for Violet it is on high. **  
**If that's confusing I'll explain it better next time. **

**Thank you to TragicAtBest13, Dalonega Noquisi, STforRK, Tsovy, and Aurora333 for reviewing the last chapter.**  
**I will leave you on this note: My dog is begging for cake. **  
**X**

* * *

Yesterday my brother, Nathan 'kicked' me out of his house. And by 'kicked' I mean politely gave me my bag and is having me stay on Duke's boat.

Although that's not where I am right now. I am at work, for The Haven Herald. Today however Dave decided to have me make us coffee, so instead of me sitting at his desk I'm in the back room Kitchen.

I'm not even going to lie, to be honest I needed some coffee. I know Nathan said I would be safer from the troubles if I was with Duke, but what about the fact that when we are together we hardly ever sleep because we are doing other things?

Not that I was going to tell Nathan that, though. That is definitely one conversation I'd rather not have with my brother. The only talk of that sort we had ever had was when the Chief tried explaining 'the birds and the bees' to us when I was in 8th grade, and Nathan was in 9th.

Even though there was 2 years difference between us, my birthday was early enough in the year that I was put in the grade behind him. He didn't really like that, considering for the most part I was at the same school as him and Duke.

I snapped out of my thoughts when the Coffee maker shut off, signaling it was done. I grabbed the handle of the pot with a tea towel, and poured the coffee into two mugs. I then added sugar and cream, and started to head back to Dave's desk.

I stopped at the door frame though when I heard someone unfamiliar talking. I knew that if it was someone Dave had wanted me to meet, he would've yelled for me to come back. I stayed out of view and tried to hear their conversation.

"Still singing that same old song, huh?" The unfamiliar voice said to Dave. I craned my neck closer to hear better.

"What do you want? Money?" Dave asked, and from the tone in his voice he was extremely nervous.

"No, what I want now is a job." The other man said to Dave, and I moved back a step as I heard foot steps come a little closer. They stopped, and I eased up a little.

"Well, I'm not sure I have anything. Pretty much just Vince and me these days. Newspaper business, you know?" Dave responded, nervously chuckling.

Clearly, who ever this guy is, Dave really doesn't want my presence known.

"I'd like to start in a week or two. I have a few things I need to wrap up first." The stranger stated, ignoring Dave's response. The foot steps edged closer to the door, and then he said one last thing before he opened the door and left. "I'll be in touch"

I stayed in the other room even after the stranger left, and Dave came to find me. He didn't explain anything, and instead instructed me to put the coffee down, and then drove me to the police station. The last thing he said to me before he drove off was 'Don't leave the police station without Nathan or your father.'

Which was quite a bizarre statement. I tried to find a reason Dave could be so paranoid about the stranger as I went into the police station. I walked to the Chief's office, hoping my father might have the answers.

I opened the door to Chief's office, to find him looking out the window sadly.

"Don't you knock- Oh, what are you doing here Violet?" Chief asked as his expression changed from anger to worry at the notice of me being the one who came into the room. I shrugged.

"There was a guy at The Haven Herald. Dave talked to him and then drove me here." I explained as I sat down at the chair in front of his desk. He sighed and nodded, looking back out the window.

"Who was it?" I asked, looking from his desk to him. He sighed again, turning to look at me to say something, but was interrupted when someone else barged into the room.

"I need a signature." Nathan, who had just entered the room with papers in hand.

"Don't you knock anymore?" Chief barked at him, and I turned my head to look at Nathan. He gave me a small smile before turning his attention back to the Chief.

"The door was open." Nathan stated, looking discerningly at the Chief. The chief ignored this, looking back out the window. Nathan scoffed at this, and looked down at the desk that was in front of him and myself.

"Max Hanson?" Nathan said as he read the name on a file folder. I looked up at him and then back at the Chief who was now looking back at Nathan. "He didn't make parole, did he?" Nathan asked, but before I could ask who Max Hanson was, the Chief spoke.

"Don't concern yourself with that. Just go down and take a look at those cracks. Take your sister with you." The chief said as he looked back out the window, a signal that the conversation had ended and we needed to leave his office.

I raised my eyebrows at Nathan as I got up, and he beckoned me to follow him as he started to leave the office. Once out of earshot of the Chief, I started talking again.

"Who is Max Hanson?" I asked as we walked towards Nathan's office. He sighed as we entered his office and continued to his desk, dropping off his papers that the Chief neglected to sign. He looked back at me as I waited by the door frame.

"You heard him." Nathan said as he walked up to me, grabbing his jacket from the hanger next to me and walking past me. I groaned at this knowing that was all I was going to hear about Max Hanson for now. I sighed in annoyance before running after Nathan to join him.

We got into his Truck, and headed out to where one of the cracks were, which also happened to be one of the Chief's favorite hunting spots. After parking, we walked through a field. When we reached the crack I gasped.

It was genuinely a crack. I walked slowly around it as Nathan dropped his bag down beside it.

"Come back over here and help me measure it." Nathan said dryly to me, and I nodded. I could have jumped over the crack, but something about it weird-ed me out too much and instead I walked back around it. Nathan knelled down beside his bag, grabbing a measuring tape from it.

He looked up at me when I got to his side of the crack, holding the measuring tape up so I could grab the end of it to pull it out. I grabbed it, and started walking back to the beginning of the crack. Once I got there I knelled down, holding it in place. Nathan slowly started crawling to the other end of the crack.

"How big is it?" I asked as he got to the end of the crack.

"Eleven feet, two inches." Nathan replied as he stood back up, and I got up as well and let go of the measuring tape. It slowly recoiled as Nathan walked back to his bag. He dropped it back in and picked up his bag.

"Is that all we need to do?" I asked as I walked closer to him. He nodded.

"Yeah, let's go back to the truck." Nathan said as he turned to leave, and I followed behind him quietly.

"So what is up with these-" I started as we got closer to Nathan's truck, but he silenced me and pointed to the truck. I looked to see someone in the driver's seat. Nathan and I shared a confused glance before we continued heading to the truck.

"Can I help you?" Nathan asked the man in the truck as we stopped in front of the passenger's side of the truck. The man opened the door, got out and closed the door before speaking.

"Nathan and Violet Wuornos" The man stated as he smiled from Nathan to myself, who was a little bit behind Nathan. I raised an eye brow.

"Who are you?" Nathan deadpanned, wearing a very serious expression on his face.

"You were in The Haven Herald." I commented as I continued to look at him. He nodded and smiled.

"Correct. No flinching, Nathan. And superb hearing, Violet. I knew I'd like you two." He said as his smile grew and he continued to look from Nathan to myself.

"We're flattered. Who are you?" Nathan responded dryly, the expression on his face never faltering.

"I'm an old friend of the chief's." The man responded as he slowly sauntered closer to us.

"You're Max Hanson." Nathan responded, and I looked at him confusingly for a moment before looking back at 'Max Hanson'.

"Smart, too. Now I just came by to say hello, that's all." Max Hanson explained as he came closer to Nathan. "I don't want no trouble at all, tell your father that." He put his hand on Nathan's shoulder. Nathan slowly and quietly withdrew his gun out of it's holster. "I just want a little house with a little yard."

I looked at the hand on Nathan's shoulder, noticing that it started to grip tighter onto Nathan.

"Nathan!" I yelled as I tried to grab Max's hand, and in surprise Max pushed me with the hand I had just tried releasing from Nathan's shoulder. I hit the side of the truck, yelling in pain.

"If you don't leave now, you're going to get a ride back to shawshank. Or a bullet." Nathan strained to not yell at Max, and I stayed still, leaning on the truck in pain.

"Damn. You couldn't feel that at all, could you?" Max asked Nathan, before looking at me. "And you really can feel too much, can't you?"

I glared at this.

"You really don't want to stay in Haven." Nathan said as he glared at Max, drawing the attention back to him.

"Oh, but I do. I have friends here, Nathan. And one thing I learned in prison, is that if you have the right kind of friends, life gets a whole lot easier. You remember that." Max said, smiling at both me and Nathan before he walked away.

We stayed still until Max was out of sight. Nathan then put his gun back in it's holster and turned to look at me.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking concerned. I nodded, grimacing in an attempt to hide the pain.

He nodded and we got back into the truck, heading back to the police station. When we got to the police station Nathan let me sit in his desk chair, and started filing papers. I watched him, both of us remaining silent.

I started to play around with a pencil that was on the desk, causing Nathan to smile and roll his eyes when I 'accidentally' threw it up too high and it got stuck in the ceiling. I smiled sheepishly at this.

Audrey came into the office, causing Nathan to turn around to look at her.

"I need to talk to you. And you, I guess." Audrey said as she looked from Nathan and then to myself. "I found out something about Max Hanson."

Nathan nodded and sat on the edge of his desk. "What's up?" He asked, still looking at Audrey.

"He can't feel anything." Audrey stated, glancing quickly at me before looking back at Nathan. My eyes grew wider in shock, and I looked down at the table to try to understand what she just said.

"How do you know this?" Nathan asked.

"It doesn't matter how I know-" Audrey said, getting cut off by Nathan who repeated the question. "It doesn't matter." She repeated. "All that matters is that you have the same affliction. Which probably means that your..." Audrey trailed off.

"Related." Nathan and I both said at once, and I looked up from the table to him and Audrey. Nathan got up from the edge of the desk as I got up from his chair, and we both stormed out of his office, heading to the Chief's office.

"Did you forget to tell us something about Max Hanson?" Nathan asked angrily as we entered the room, going all the way up to the Chief's desk and putting his hands down on it to lean over it. I followed him to the desk and stood next to him, glaring at the Chief while I crossed my arms.

"You put him away, you know everything about him, and you say 'don't concern yourself?!" Nathan yelled at the Chief, and I noticed out of the corner of my eye as Audrey came into the room.

"Can we be alone here?" The Chief asked as he pointed behind Nathan to Audrey.

"You can say it in front of her!" Nathan yelled, lifting up one of his hands and pointing behind himself to Audrey. The Chief looked at me pleadingly, but my expression never faltered.

"Well you found out, that he can't feel anything. So you know now." The Chief stated, causing me to scoff and angrily roll my eyes. "That you're related. I wanted to tell you." The Chief continued, "Both of you." He glanced at me before turning his attention back to Nathan.

"What does that even mean?" I asked loudly as I threw my hands down in annoyance. He sighed and looked back at me.

"I'm not your father, Violet. Or yours, Nathan." The Chief said, looking from Nathan and then back to myself. "Max Hanson is your father." Nathan and I remanded silent at this remark, causing the Chief to get sigh. "Are you going to say anything?" He asked both of us.

"Can't say I'm surprised." Nathan replied sourly, lifting his hands off the table.

"You kept too many secrets for this to be a surprise." I remarked, turning on my heel and the leaving the office. I heard foot steps behind me, and I had a feeling Nathan followed me. The footsteps didn't follow me all the way, however. They instead turned to go back to Nathan's office.

I left the police station, completely fed up. I didn't want to be anywhere near my so called father anymore. I stormed through downtown, making my way back to The Haven Herald, to have a word with Dave and Vince.

I stomped up the steps of The Haven Herald, and pushed the door open so hard it hit the wall. I groaned in pain as I massaged my hand that had just hit the door, having momentarily forgotten about my affliction.

"Violet?" Vince yelled questioningly as he came running to me. I looked up at him, glaring. He stopped dead in his tracks.

"Dave, I think she knows." Vince said, still looking apologetically at me. I heard Dave sigh from behind Vince, and make his way from behind Vince and into my view.

"I'm so sorry Violet." He said sadly, putting a hand out to touch my back comfortingly. I flinched away from it and he recoiled.

"Why?" I asked, looking away from him.

"You're father wanted to tell you when things got better between you two." Vince said. I sighed, and ran back out of The Haven Herald.

I walked down the downtown streets of Haven, trying to blow off steam. I walked aimlessly around, until I heard someone behind me.

"You look just like your mother." I turned around to see Max Hanson nearly ten feet behind me.

"My mother?" I questioned, walking a step closer to him.

"Yeah, you would've know her till she passed." Max said, nodding his head and about to take another step towards me. He stopped however when a crack appeared in between us. I gasped and looked from him to it. He backed up slowly, until it started chasing after him. The crack kept growing larger and larger. He turned around, running from the crack, but it caught up with him, swallowing him whole.

"Hanson!?" I yelled, running around the beginning of the crack, until the end where he had fallen in. I saw his crumpled body at the bottom. "Someone call the police!" I yelled as I looked around lividly, trying to find someone with a cell phone. Finally I found Rosemary from Rosemary's bakery and had her call.

Not ten minutes later the police had shown up, and I was put at the back of an ambulance with a blanket around me just in case I 'went into shock.'

"What happened?" Audrey asked as she sat down next to me, giving me a sympathetic look. I looked up to see Nathan in front of me.

"What do you think happened?" I asked bitterly. "He had told me I looked like our mum," I said, motioning to Nathan, "And then a crack appeared, he ran, and it swallowed him." I explained dryly. "Look, can you guys just drive me over to the Grey Gull?" I said as I looked at Audrey, hoping I didn't have to explain to my brother that I wanted to be with Duke at the moment.

"Duke." Nathan scoffed, causing Audrey and I to look up at him questioningly. "He was threatened by Max Hanson, right? Well who would benefit more from Max Hanson's death?" Nathan explained, and before Audrey and I had time to question him, he walked away.

"I guess that means you're getting the ride." Audrey stated as she looked back at me, smiling.

We piled into Nathan's truck after convincing the paramedics that I wouldn't need the shock blanket anymore. The drive over to the Grey Gull was completely silent, which I hoped was only because I was in the truck and that it wasn't how car rides normally were with Nathan and Audrey.

When we got there it was completely silent, except for Duke's jeep. We jumped out the the truck and made our way to the porch, me in the lead with Nathan and Audrey following.

Once Duke heard us however, he didn't even bother looking our way and instead picked up a loaded rifle, and aimed it at us. I stopped walking at this, while Nathan continued and put his hand up.

"Sorry about that, Vi." Duke said as he lowered the gun. I took that as a sign to approach and walked over to the table he was sitting at, and sat on the other chair at the table. Nathan and Audrey held their ground where Nathan had stopped.

"Hear you're afraid of Max Hanson." Nathan said dryly as he dropped his hand.

"Ahh, screw it." Duke said as he put the gun down on the table in front of me, and leaned back down on the railing of the porch. "Normally I'd act all manly, but yeah. I'm terrified." He continued as he smiled from Nathan to Audrey. "Why do you ask?"

"Make it a lot easier on you if he was dead, wouldn't it?" Nathan asked, causing Duke to lean in.

"Are you offering?" Duke asked Nathan.

"Where were you earlier, Duke?" Audrey asked from behind Nathan. Duke smiled at this, standing back up.

"Oh, did somebody take care of my little problem?" Duke asked excitedly.

"Just answer the question." Audrey stated.

"They did." Duke remarked happily, "Thank you, thank you!" Duke yelled as he turned around, looking up. "That is outstanding, alright!" Duke continued as he turned back around. "Oh, Don't worry I'm not offended that you asked, it's fine." Duke mentioned as he waved his hand casually at Nathan and Audrey. He then smiled, rubbing his hands together as he leaned back down on the railing. "So, How did he die?"

"He was swallowed by a crack in the ground right in front of me." I remarked dryly, causing Duke to turn his head to me curiously.

"He was swallowed by a crack in ground?" Duke repeated, still looking at me. I grimaced and nodded, looking out at the ocean. "If I could do that, why would I be here hiding with a shot gun? Also, why would I have Violet witness it?" Duke asked as he pointed at me while looking at Nathan and Audrey.

Nathan scoffed at this and stormed off back to his truck, and I turned around and watched as Audrey hung around.

"Just because this guy with a tattoo is dead, doesn't mean another guy with a tattoo isn't going to kill you." Audrey pointed out, and I looked at Duke curiously.

"He had the tattoo?" I asked, and Duke looked at me and nodded.

"Man, you really are a buzz kill, Audrey." Duke said as he brought his attention back to Audrey. "Why would you say that? I liked you so much better when you were locked up in your cupcake room."

Audrey rolled her eyes at this and turned around, walking back to Nathan's truck. "I'm just saying!" She yelled back at us from over her shoulder.

Duke sighed and sat back down in the chair across from me, looking at me. I smiled and asked "Cupcake room?" He smiled back and nodded.

"Why were you riding along with grumpy face and buzz kill?" Duke asked as he moved the rifle off the table to lean it against the railing beside him.

"Well," I started as I put my hands on the table, turning my body to face duke. He looked at me quizzically. "Max Hanson was my real father, apparently. He stopped me in the streets and was talking about my mother when the crack in the ground swallowed him." I said, hoping that was a good way to recap the day.

"But I remember your mother." Duke said as he put his hands up on the table as well. "Before she died. She had the same affliction as you. How could Max Hanson be your father?" He asked, and I shrugged.

"She must have been married and had Nathan and I with Max before she married the Chief." I said as I looked at the table. I watched at Duke brought his hand over to mine, and held it. I looked back up at him. "Can we go visit her grave?" I asked, looking at him hopefully. He smiled and nodded, standing up and pulling me up with him.

When we arrived at the grave yard, I started running around trying to find it. I hadn't been back here since my mother had died, considering both Nathan and the Chief refuse to talk about it, let alone come back here.

"It should be around here." I said as I continued to hurry past grave stones, looking for the right one. I stopped dead in my tracks when I found a marking on a gravestone, however. "Duke, you might want to look at this." I yelled back to him as I looked down at the gravestone.

"I've seen a gravestone before, thanks." He yelled back from far behind me. At this I turned my head to glare at him.

"Seriously." I said as I looked back at the gravestone. He sighed and ran to where I was.

Once he came next to me he looked down at the gravestone. "What about it?" He asked, still looking at it.

"The marking." I stated as I pointed at the maze circle, the same one that was supposed to be tattooed on whoever kills Duke. I looked up at the other gravestones, and groaned. "Oh no."

Nearly all the gravestones that I could see had the exact same maze circle. I looked up at Duke to see him looking around at all the other gravestones as well. He then looked at me with a frown on his face.

"This really isn't good, is it?" I asked. Duke nodded, and opened his mouth to speak when his phone went off. He took it out of his back pocket, not looking to see who called.

"This isn't a good time, Audrey." Duke hissed into the phone. His expression completely changed at what ever the person said, and he took the phone away from his ear and held it out for me to take. I took it questioningly and put it up to my ear.

"Hello?" I asked into the phone.

"Hey, Violet. I'm really sorry." Audrey said, and I looked up at Duke.

"Why are you sorry?" I asked Audrey.

"The chief was responsible for the cracks. He also, well..." Audrey trailed off, and then sighed. "He's dead."

The phone slipped from my hand, landing on the ground. I couldn't bring myself to speak, or to do anything but look around.

My father, Chief Wuornos, was dead.


	8. A Tale Of Two Audreys

**Oh god sorry guys for the wait!**  
**I'm dog sitting most of break and I had finals and, well I could list off hundreds of excuses. **  
**Here's Part One of the season 2 starter.**  
**Hopefully Part Two is out within the next few days.**  
**LostCurrency **  
**X**

* * *

"Right, so we should write down the names of the people with the maze on their grave." I said as I turned from Duke, avoiding eye contact.

"Vi." Duke whispered.

"Then we can research them, figure out what they have in common." I continued as I looked at the gravestones, moving around them.

"Violet." Duke said, this time louder.

"Do you have paper?" I asked, still not looking at him and still pacing around the gravestones. He repeated my name. "Or we could use your phone."

"Violet Abigail Wuornos." Duke refrained from yelling my name as best as he could. I stopped in my tracks, turning to look at him.

"What do you want from me, Duke." I asked, storming back up to him. He appeared taken aback by this. "Do you want me to cry? Is that what you want?" I asked venomously. "You want me to break down in tears and talk about how good of a father he was to me?" I asked, rhetorically. "I was engaged, Duke." I whispered. "To you. Remember that?" I asked rather rudely. "And he decides I need to drop everything and leave! I'd rather not mourn for my loss when there is a man out there with a tattoo who is going to kill you, and then me."

Duke looked at me, surprised. I sighed, closing my eyes and tilting my head down. I heard the ground crunch underneath Duke's boots, felt him carefully wrap his arms around me, my head gently colliding with his chest.

"You don't have to, Duke." I said as I leaned back words in an attempt to break free, which he only responded with a chuckle and holding onto me tighter.

"_You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection."_ Duke whispered, and I opened my eyes to see him smiling weakly at me.

"Yeah, keep quoting the Buddha and see where that gets you." I retorted, trying to not smile at Duke but ending up laughing. His smile grew.

"I..." Duke started, looking at me seriously. He stopped, shaking his head and letting go of me.

"What?" I asked. He grinned and shook his head.

"I'll go get a pen and paper for you." Duke said, walking back to the jeep, leaving me with even more questions than answers.

Duke and I walked up the steps of the church. Reverend Driscoll had woken us up this morning by calling and claiming he needed to speak to Duke. Duke of course took that to mean I had to come too.

After the chief's death yesterday, I was given time off at The Haven Herald. I tried explaining to them that I didn't need any time off, but they wouldn't have it any other way. Duke on the other hand was happy I was off of work, because then I could tag along with him while he did everything.

Everything including talking to the Reverend. I didn't like the Reverend, so in the end he had to all but drag me to his jeep.

The church door opened and out came the Reverend. He smiled at us. "Mr. Crocker and Mrs. Crocker, so good to see you." The Rev said, causing me to cough.

"We're not married, Rev." I reminded him as we stopped in front of him. He grimaced and nodded.

"Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral." The Rev quoted, causing me to roll my eyes and Duke to glare.

"Did you invite us here to quote the bible?" Duke asked sourly.

"Right." Rev said, nodding. He then turned and opened the door for us to come into the church. Duke smiled and shook his head.

"We can talk outside for now." Duke said as he leered at the Rev.

"I'll get right to it, then." The Rev started, walking closer to Duke and away from the door. "I've been thinking a lot about your dad. He and I were quite close. He was brave, and he stood with the righteous."

I scoffed and this while Duke smirked and shook his head. "That doesn't sound like him." Duke stated, raising a brow at the Rev.

"He understood the struggle that we face here." The Rev continued, momentarily lingering his sight on me. I glared at this, knowing he was talking about the troubles. "And unfortunately he was one of its casualties."

"My father drowned at sea." Duke reminded the Rev, grimacing and nodding. "I was there. Why don't you just tell us what you want?"

"I want to protect our town. I want to help you." The Rev insisted, pointing at Duke. I rolled my eyes at this and looked around.

"Okay." Duke said, smiling in a fake manner. He pulled out a piece of paper that was in his pocket that showed the circle maze, and showed it to the Rev. "Tell me about this symbol."

The Rev paused for a moment, before regaining his posture. "When I know where you stand, I'll give you the answer to your questions."

"If you knew me as well as you're pretending to, you'd know where I stand." Duke told the Rev, but I was no longer paying attention to them. Behind us, in the street was a kid. He was sitting down next to a gutter. I stepped away from Duke and the Rev, to closer look at the kid.

The kid looked in the gutter and starting screaming, causing both Duke and I to run to the kid.

"Are you okay?" I yelled as I jumped off the ledge to help him up. I grabbed the kid carefully and brought him away from the gutter. His hand came out of the gutter covered in blood. I knelled down to the kid, looking at his arm for a cut.

"I'm okay, it's not me." The kid said as he looked at his own hand.

"Violet." Duke said, and I looked up at him to see him pointing at the water that was flowing down the road. I looked at it to see it was all red. I gasped as I jumped up, to see red all over my white converse. I groaned at this, and stepped out of the water.

I looked up to see Duke grabbing his phone from his back pocket, and beginning to dial.

"You callin' the police?" The Rev asked. Duke looked up for a moment at the Rev, glaring.

"That blood is coming from your plumbing." Duke said, pointing at the sprinklers that were raining blood onto the grass. "So yea, I'm calling the police."

"In Haven the police aren't the answer." The Rev said darkly as he took a step closer to Duke. "To anything."

Duke continued to glower at the Rev as he waited for Nathan to pick up. I watched as the kid ran up the street to his house.

Duke groaned as he took his phone away from his ear, and looked up at me. "He didn't pick up."

"Do you want me to keep trying him while we drive to the Grey Gull?" I asked as I put my hand out to take the phone. Duke handed it over gingerly and nodded.

We went back to the jeep, the Rev not even bothering to stop us. I hit redial when I got into the jeep, and waited for Nathan to pick up. Duke made his way onto the main road, and continued driving towards the Grey Gull.

I scoffed as I reached Nathan's voice mail, and ended the call. I then once again hit redial. "Maybe we should head to the Police station." I mentioned offhandedly. I looked out the windshield and noticed a car accident that we were approaching. "Or not."

Duke parked the jeep on the side of the road, near an ambulance. I closed his phone and put it in my pocket as I jumped out of the jeep.

"Your brother is always at the scene of the crime, isn't he?" Duke joked, as he closed the jeep door and walked over to me, I rolled my eyes at this as I started walking around the ambulance.

"Well it is his job." I reminded Duke, and he smiled and nodded. I looked at the ground around the over-turned SUV, noticing black dots on the SUV and ground. "Are these bugs?" I asked disgustedly as I backed away a step. Duke laughed at this.

"Still have an aversion to bugs?" Duke chuckled, smirking at me. I glared back at him.

"You try having sensitive touch and having a bug on you." I stated, shivering at the thought. "It's horrible." Duke nodded at this and lightly touched my back. At first this seemed like a nice gesture, till he started using his fingers to mimic a bug. I glared again and pushed his arm away, causing him to laugh again.

I looked away from Duke and to my brother, who was next to Audrey. Audrey was talking to a brunette woman in a suit. Audrey then pointed to Stan and Stan cuffed the brunette woman and lead her to his police car. I awkwardly smiled at Stan as he walked by us to his car, the brunette woman next to him.

Now that Nathan and Audrey were free, I walked up to them, Duke behind me.

"Guess I know why you didn't return our calls." I said to Nathan as I gestured to the mess around us.

"I've got about a hundred reasons not to return his calls." Nathan said, glaring at Duke and turning to leave.

"What about blood?" Duke asked, peaking Nathan's interest. "Washing down the street in front of the good shepherds church." Duke added, motioning water running.

"Is that a good enough reason to return our calls?" I asked as I raised my eye brow at Nathan.

"When was that, was that today?" Audrey asked, looking skeptically from Duke to myself. I nodded.

"And the best part is that it was coming through the sprinklers." Duke mentioned, smiling from Audrey to Nathan, who was still frowning.

"Blood, frogs..." Audrey started.

"And gnats." Nathan finished, looking at the gnats on the turned over car next to us.

"What it she doing here?" Duke asked, and I looked up at him questioningly. I then looked at where he was pointing, which was into the crowd of people.

"Who?" I asked, looking back at him. He looked at me then back into the crowd.

"Never mind..." Duke said as he slowly dropped his hand, noticing the confused glances on Nathan's and Audrey's faces. "Look, we got to go." Duke said, grabbing my hand and tugging me away from Audrey and Nathan.

"We do?" I inquired, looking back at the crowd and then at Nathan and Audrey.

"Yes." Duke stated. I waved at Audrey and Nathan before turning around and continuing walking back to the jeep with Duke.

"Why do we need to go?" I asked in a hush tone.

"I'll explain it to you in the jeep." Duke responded. I sighed and nodded.

"Okay seriously, Violet. Stop laughing." Duke snapped at me, causing me to laugh more.

Duke had just finished explaining to me how he dated a girl named Evidence Ryan in my years out of haven. After that, I sarcastically remarked about wanting to know his other escapades, so told me how he had a one night stand with a women whom he got pregnant but also tried to age him to death.

"I'm sorry, but 'aged to death'?" I asked as I tried to calm my laughing down. I looked over at him, noticing his frown which was focused on the road ahead. "You got to admit, that's pretty amusing." I added, looking at him hopeful that he'd stop being to bitter.

"It was quite a strange week." He agreed, his facial expression lightening.

"So what does this Evidence Ryan have to do with me?" I inquired as we slowed down by the pier.

"She's a viper and a con man, so I want you to be on your guard." Duke stated as he parked the jeep, and then looked over to me to gauge my reaction.

"So you dated a con man?" I teased, causing Duke to roll his eyes at me.

"You know what I mean, Vi." He remarked. He then grasped the door, and taking that as a cue for leaving I opened my door. I then waited when I noticed he hadn't moved. He then shook his head as if he was dismissing a thought, half smiled at me, and exited the jeep.

This was the second time in two days. I was beginning to wonder if he was hiding something from me. But this was Duke, after all. He didn't normally hide things from me, just everyone else. But when he did, he always told me when he was ready.

I sighed and ignored this as I jumped out of the jeep and followed Duke to the Cape Rouge. He had been waiting in front of the jeep for me, and once I was within arms length he grabbed my hand.

It was warm, the heat radiating from his hand through this fingerless gloves. I smiled as I looked down at our interwoven fingers, I had given him those gloves years ago.

When the Cape Rouge was in view I noticed a woman sitting on the bench on dock, reading The Haven Herald. Duke and I exchanged looks before we stepped on board, him stepping on first and dragging me along.

"Evidence Ryan." Duke stated with enough dryness in his tone to rival Nathan. At this Evidence lowered the newspaper, showing a large grin on her face.

"Duke Crocker." The name rolled off her tongue as if she had been saying it her whole life She didn't even bother to look in my direction. I grimaced at this and tried to pretend I wasn't being ignored.

"What do you want?" Duke demanded, the hold on my hand growing and the tone in his voice staying the same.

"Why would I want something?" Evidence asked innocently. I continued to grimace and let go of Duke's hand, although he was still holding onto mine.

"Because your lips are moving." Duke replied, and I could tell from both the tone of his voice and the manner of his hand holding that he was not happy.

"Maybe I came to see you." Evidence said coyly as she casually stood up, still only staring at Duke.

"No you didn't." Duke stated, and the anger in his voice caused me to hold back onto his hand. He looked over at me and smiled.

"Fine." Evidence snapped. "There's a job." She stated, and started heading off the boat. "I'll talk to you when your in a better mood, have showered, and the infamous Violet Wuornos isn't clouding your decisions." Evidence said as she stepped off the boat, and sauntered away.

"Do I smell bad?" Duke asked as he let go of my hand and smelled himself.

"I don't think so." I said as I stepped closer to him. "Oh god what if I've become immune to it and we both actually smell like shit?" I asked as I started smelling myself.

Duke's laughter filled the air at this, such a contagious laugh that I couldn't help but join in.


End file.
